Two Sides
by dwparsnip
Summary: There are at least two sides to every story, and when communication breaks down, stuff happens. It's a Lisa & Rick story, with appearances by many of the usual suspects, including a visit from beyond. Update...Now I've added Stevens' side of the story.
1. Chapter 1

All references to Robotech and its' characters © Harmony Gold, Inc.

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At 1800 hours, Admiral Rick Hunter sat in his office and looked out the view port in his office at the stars and thought to himself, '_I wonder what she's doing right now?'_

What was really annoying to Rick was the fact that this wasn't the first time in the last week that he had had that thought. He and Lisa had been so busy that they were apart more than they were together. So much so in fact, that when they did see each other it seemed that the only thing they had in common was work. What little alone time they could get was spent catching up on rest. He couldn't remember the last time they really kissed each other with passion, and he certainly couldn't remember the last time they were intimate.

He missed her terribly.

And it was starting to grate on him.

He knew though that it was harder on Lisa. While he was responsible for the military aspect of the REF, she was responsible for everything. He couldn't imagine the weight that was pressing down on her delicate shoulders on a daily basis.

He reached to the communications console and contacted the bridge. To his surprise, the ship's executive officer answered the call, not his wife.

"Hi Captain. Is the Admiral around?", he asked, trying to hide his disappointment.

Captain Forsythe looked at Rick sympathetically and said, 'Sorry Admiral. She locked herself in her office a few minutes ago with the threat of a court-martial for anyone who interrupted her.'

Rick smiled and said, "Well, I wouldn't want anyone to get court-martialed today. Thanks Captain."

'You're welcome, sir'

He opened the private channel to Lisa's office, and when she answered she looked like fire was going to come out of her mouth when she spoke.

Rick smiled and said, "Hi Lisa. How are you?"

'I'm fine Rick. I'd be better if I could get some of this work done'

Rick was shocked by her harshness, though he knew that the annoyance in her voice wasn't directed at him personally.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Lisa, I just needed to see you and hear your voice."

She looked at him tiredly over the channel and said impatiently, 'I'm sorry, Rick, not now.'

And with that she closed the channel.

Rick leaned back in his chair. That had been the normal way of things in the last week. She was either too busy, too exhausted or too angry at something or someone to even talk to. He felt sorry for her. She was responsible for so much, being torn in so many directions at the same time. He honestly didn't know how she hadn't gone insane or collapsed from fatigue.

Rick closed his eyes and got an idea. He opened his eyes and reached for the communications panel again and called the hangar deck.

'Hangar deck, Chief Ross speaking.'

"Hi Chief", said Rick excitedly. "This is Admiral Hunter. I'd like to go out for a flight. Can you get an Alpha ready for me please?"

'I can do you one better, Admiral. Alpha three-five-nine is already fueled up and ready to go. The pilot that was supposed to take her out came down with a mild case of food poisoning and she had to scrub her flight. You're more than welcome to it, sir.'

"That's perfect, Chief. I'll be down within fifteen minutes."

'Understood sir. I'll get her prepped for you. Hangar deck out.'

Rick closed the connection and smiled.

He went out of his office into his domain, the Situation Room. He looked around for his aide, Captain Vince Grant, and when he spotted him over by one of the many radar consoles, he went to stand beside him.

When Vince finished instructing a young ensign on some of the finer points of etiquette in the Situation Room, Rick said to him, "I'm going for a short flight around the system Vince. You're in charge until I get back."

Vince didn't relish the idea and said, "Sir, are you sure you wouldn't rather General Sterling to stand in?"

Rick smiled and patted Vince's shoulder. "Don't worry Vince, I won't be long."

Vince had only been assigned to the Sit. Room recently, and he didn't yet feel comfortable in running things. Rick however, wouldn't be gone for long and he was sure it would do wonders for Vince's confidence to run the show for a little while. Besides, Max was out having his own bit of fun flying.

Rick walked out of the Sit. Room and headed for the hangar deck, several decks below. He walked briskly, the thought of being in an Alpha out in space spurring him on to walk faster and faster. When he got to the hangar he was almost out of breath.

He checked in with the Chief to make sure everything was ready and headed for the pilot's locker room to change into one of the flight suits he kept in there for times like these or times when he had to go off ship.

Years of practice were still engrained into his very being so it only took him only a few moments to get into his flight suit. He grabbed his red and white helmet and headed for the flight deck.

The Chief had just finished his pre-flight inspection as Rick walked up to the Alpha.

"She's all set, sir. Have a safe trip."

"Thanks Chief. See you in a little while."

Rick put on his helmet and climbed up into the cockpit, taking only a second to familiarize himself with the controls. '_Just like riding a bike.'_ He lowered the canopy and opened his mic.

"Flight Control, this is Admiral Hunter aboard Alpha three-five-nine, requesting permission to depart."

'Roger that, Admiral. Your call sign for this flight will be Echo One. Please confirm.'

"Confirmed Flight Control. Call sign Echo One."

'Roger, Echo One. Permission to depart granted. You may leave at your discretion.'

"Roger that, Flight. Echo One thrusters hot in 3…2…1…mark."

He threw the throttle forward and a second later was flying among the stars.

For three quarters of an hour Rick put the Alpha through it's paces. It had been a long time since Rick had flown like this, and it invigorated him. He was just putting the finishing touches on a particularly difficult sequence of maneuvers when a face appeared on the screen and he heard a very familiar voice over the communication net.

'Whoever is flying that plane should have his license revoked', said Max Sterling with a grin on his face and laughter in his voice.

Rick gave him a short laugh and said, "Don't you dare try, Max. Besides, I've seen you fly a lot more recklessly and dangerous than this."

Even on the small communication screen Rick could see that Max had blushed a little.

"Besides", continued Rick, "There's nothing like a few high gee twists and turns to rid the body of frustration."

Max understood what Rick meant. On more than one occasion Max had burned up the stars and the skies in an attempt to do just that.

'All right Boss', said Max. 'Just be careful.'

Rick gave Max a little salute and said playfully, "Yes, Dad."

Max just laughed and closed the channel. It always gave Rick a good feeling, sitting in an Alpha, talking to Max on the communication channel. Just like old times. It was time for Rick to head in anyway. He was feeling a lot better, the flight and being among the stars had helped tremendously. But there was one thing that would have done better. '_Lisa.'_

It was as he thought of his wife that an idea came to him. He radioed Flight Control and informed them that he would be making a slow, in close run at the bridge of the ship.

He headed for the bridge and slowed to a crawl. He suspected that she would still be in her office, just off the bridge to the port side of the ship, so he maneuvered in closer to that area.

There was a fairly sizable view port in her office, and when he did what he wanted to do, he would have no trouble getting a good look in there.

Now just meters away, he reached for the configuration lever and pulled it to Battloid. The Alpha transformed from the fighter mode into a Battloid.

Rick maneuvered the Battloid so that the head was level with her window, and he carefully activated the thrusters to bring him in closer. Closer and closer to the ship the Battloid went. When the front edge of the Battloid was only a couple of meters from the window he stopped the forward momentum and ordered the thrusters at station keeping so that the Battloid would remain still.

He looked into her office and saw her sitting at her desk talking to someone on the communication video screen. There was a man sitting on the couch in her office with a couple of folders in his hand. The couch was on the far wall, facing the window so Rick could get a good look at the person. He searched his memory for his name. '_Lieutenant Commander Isaac Stevens, from engineering if I'm not mistaken.'_

Lisa finished her conversation and after she closed the channel she went to sit beside Stevens on the couch. They talked about whatever was on the papers Stevens held he assumed, but Rick noticed that Stevens barely took his eyes off of Lisa.

'_Get a grip, Rick. She's having a meeting, nothing else.'_ Still, his mind was screaming at him to call her on the communication channel, knock on the window, something.

But he didn't. For some reason he couldn't figure out, he couldn't. Through the computer enhanced visual receptors of the Battloid he watched his wife with this person.

She dropped something, he couldn't see what it was, and both Lisa and Stevens reached for it. There hands met on the object and stayed there for several seconds. They looked at each other, and he brought his hand up, still holding hers, and placed their joined hands on her knee. They just stayed there like it for a few more seconds, holding hands and looking into each other's eyes, and Rick was going insane with fright, anger and jealousy.

Just when Rick thought his heart was going to stop, everything slowed to half speed and Stevens leaned in and kissed Lisa.

And she didn't stop him.

Rick's trembling finger pressed the appropriate section of the screen to zoom in, and watched in horror as his wife returned the kiss of this man as she brought her hands up to hold his face. The kiss was becoming more and more passionate as the seconds ticked by, until Lisa was leaned back on the arm of the couch with Stevens moving in to rest on top of her.

Rick couldn't believe what he was seeing. He forced himself to watch, if for no other reason than to make sure it was real and not a nightmare.

Stevens touched her tenderly, and as his hand moved to take the zipper on the front of his wife's uniform, Rick almost lost his lunch. Slowly, ever so slowly, Stevens brought the zipper down, down, down…

When the zipper reached Lisa's navel area, Rick turned off the monitor and moved the Battloid down below the window. When he reached a safe distance, he reconfigured to fighter mode and took off away from the ship at full throttle.

He was enraged and so terribly hurt at the same time. Thoughts of his wife went through his head at an ungodly speed, thoughts of her in New Macross, the SDF-1, their wedding, Roy's birth and so on and so on.

'Flight Control to Echo One. Captain Grant requests a word with you, sir.'

Rick opened his mouth to respond, but he couldn't speak.

'Echo One, this is Flight Control, do you read me?'

"Affirmative…Flight Control. I read you. Ah, please inform Captain Grant that I am now returning to the ship and I'll talk to him shortly."

'Understood, Echo One. The pattern is empty and you may return at your discretion.'

"Acknowledged, Flight Control."

Moments later Rick was in the pilot's locker room changing back into his uniform. He couldn't for the life of him remember bringing the Alpha in for a landing or climbing out of the cockpit. Everything after turning off the monitor outside Lisa's office was a blank.

He made his way back to the Sit. Room. He went inside and a relieved Vince came up to him and said, "Man, am glad you're back. I don't know if I'm…Rick, are you okay?"

The question shook Rick out of his daze and he smiled for Vince's benefit. "Fine Vince, I'm fine. You did fine work Vince. You'll get the hang of it, I promise."

Vince looked at Rick and gave him a grateful smile.

Rick looked at him and said, "It's late. Why don't you go on and get out of here."

Vince looked at Rick and said happily, "You don't have to tell me twice." He started to leave but stopped and turned around to look at Rick. "Are you sure you're all right, Rick."

Rick smiled at Vince again and said, "You bet. See you tomorrow."

Vince nodded and left the Sit. Room. It was late, and the only people in there besides Rick were three radar techs. The basic night time skeleton crew.

Rick looked at the most senior tech, who doubled during the night shift as the duty officer and said, "Lieutenant Harrison, I'm gong to do some paperwork in my office. If anyone besides General Sterling asks, I'm very busy and don't want to be disturbed. Understood?"

She nodded and said smartly, "Yes, sir."

He nodded back and headed into his office. He sat down in his chair, put his elbows on his desk and rubbed his eyes.

'_What now?'_, he asked himself. '_Do I confront her, talk to her, do I go home…what do I do?'_

The thought of Lisa being with another man tore him apart inside. And the more he thought about it the more it hurt. He had almost hoped that he would get angrier and angrier, but much to his dismay he kept hurting and hurting.

'_What good is going to come of talking to her about it until I figure out what I'm feeling? She's going to want to know what I feel, what I intend to do. How can I tell her when I don't know myself? I need to think, or at least try. I need to get off this ship and away from her for a couple of days and try to figure it out.'_ The thought never occurred to him that there might have been more to it…he saw what he saw, and as far as he was concerned, it was pretty self-explanatory.

He reached for the communicator and called the hangar deck again.

When the Chief answered, Rick said, "Chief, can you get another Alpha ready by tomorrow morning for me. It's going to be an extended trip so I'm going to need the extra fuel tanks. Is that a problem?"

The Chief thought for a second and replied, 'No sir, no problem at all. She'll be ready by 0700, sir.'

"If you need me, call me in my office Chief. I'll…be burning the midnight oil getting some work done before I go. Oh and Chief…don't let anyone know about this. It's just between you and me. Understood?"

'Yes, sir', came the reply.

"Thanks, Chief. Hunter out."

Rick spent the next five hours going over a flight plan, writing instructions and doing work, anything and everything to keep his mind off of his wife. Before he knew it, it was 0100.

He realized that Lisa hadn't called looking for him, and that brought on a new wave of pain in his chest. He went to the couch, turned off the light and lid down, setting the alarm on his wristwatch for 0630.

He thought of Lisa again, and he thought of her and Stevens in her office. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't stop thinking about it.

The alarm on his watch went off. '_0630? Man, I thought I just turned off the light!'_

He got up and stretched. After getting all the kinks out, he got the bag full of spare clothes and personal items that he kept in his office in case of sudden trips or emergencies.

He exited his office and walked up to the senior tech.

"Rachel, I'm going off ship for a few days. The trip is a bit sudden, so I haven't had the time to inform everyone. Here are some orders for General Sterling and Captain Grant. I would appreciate it if you give those orders to them. General Sterling will be in command of the Sit. Room in my absence."

"Aye, sir. May I ask how long you'll be gone for, sir?"

"Three days." Rick turned to walk away towards the door and said over his shoulder, "I'll see you all then."

"Sir?"

Rick turned around to look at Harrison and said, "What is it, Lieutenant?"

She came closer to him and lowered her voice. "Sir, Admiral Hunter called for you around 2040 hours last night, sir. I told her you didn't want to be disturbed and she said she'd call back"

Rick nodded and said, "Thanks, Lieutenant." She replied, "Aye, sir."

When he got into the hallway, he looked at the note he had written for Lisa. He didn't want to go home, but he didn't want to depend on someone else to give it to her either. He decided to go and slip it under their door, so that when she left to go to work she'd find it. He approached their door and when he reached it, he glanced around to make sure no one was watching and then slipped the note underneath the door. He stood up and after one last look at the door, he turned and headed for the hangar deck. He didn't know what to think about the fact that she had called him. '_She did call. On the other hand, she never called back, or even called my office line.'_ The realization stung him. '_If she really wanted to see me or speak to me, she could have.'_

Once again he changed into a flight suit in the pilot's locker room, and when he was done headed towards the Alpha that was waiting for him.

He thanked the Chief, climbed aboard and initiated the pre-flight sequence.

"Flight Control, this is Admiral Hunter, requesting departure instructions."

'Roger, Admiral Hunter. Your call sign for this flight will be Tango Three, please confirm.'

"Confirmed, Flight Control. Call sign Tango Three."

'Stand by, Tango Three.'

A few minutes went by and Rick got impatient. "Flight Control, what's the problem up there?"

'Rick', came a familiar feminine voice over the communication channel a few seconds later.

His heart skipped a beat when he heard her voice, and he wasn't sure he could trust himself to talk to her.

'Rick', she said again. 'What's going on? Where are you going?'

A light came to life on his communication video screen, indicating that someone was trying to initiate a video link with him.

He cleared his throat, activated the video link and said quietly, "I'm taking a three day vacation, Admiral."

'What's wrong, Rick?'

He was surprised that she sounded and looked so genuinely concerned. "Nothing Admiral. I just wanted to leave the ship for a few days."

'Rick, please come up here and talk to me.' It almost sounded to him like she was begging.

"Negative, Admiral. I'm ready to go, and I would prefer to wait…to talk to you."

'Wait to talk to me? Why? About what? Rick! Talk to me, please!'

"Is this a secure channel?", he asked her.

He saw her reach and heard a click, indicating that she had just switched to one when she said, 'It is now. What's going on? Why did you leave me a note instead of talking to me?'

Instead of answering her question he pretended to look at some of the gauges and asked, "How was your day yesterday?"

She looked confused. 'What? Fine. Rick please…'

"A lot of meetings?"

'Yes.'

He made himself look at her. "How was your meeting with Commander Stevens?"

She turned as white as a ghost, and her voice betrayed her concern in what he was trying to say. 'Stevens. Fine…that meeting was…fine.'

"It looked like it was a lot more than fine to me, Admiral."

She looked visibly distressed. 'What are you talking about Rick?'

He summoned what strength he could, took a deep breath and admitted, "I saw you, Admiral. I saw you kiss him."

Her eyes were wide with shock. 'How did…Rick?'

He closed his eyes and began. "I missed you yesterday." He opened his eyes and forced himself to look at her. "I called you and you were so…distant, and I missed you…so much. I took an Alpha out for a flight and decided to surprise you by going to Battloid and knocking on your office window, but when I looked inside I got the surprise."

'Rick, you don't understand…'

"That's an understatement", he said tiredly. "I saw you Lisa. I saw you hold hands. I saw you kiss him. I saw you pull him over to lie on top of you. And I saw him undo your uniform."

'Rick you've got to listen to me! It wasn't…" As she spoke he could see tears in her eyes, and it filled him with anger. "Don't you dare cry, Admiral!", he interrupted. "What right do you have to cry right now?"

She jumped as if he'd struck her, and despite the pain and anger he was feeling, he felt sorry for startling her.

'Rick, there's more to it, it's not what you think. I didn't realize it wasn't…'

He didn't want to hear it. "Admiral, I need to be alone right now. I need to know what I am feeling before I can even begin to talk about this, and I can't do that aboard ship."

'Rick, where…'

"I've left orders for Max to take control of the Sit. Room, and he has my flight plan and destination. Please don't ask him anything about it, unless it's an emergency." His eyes went cold and he said, "You owe me that much."

The tears were flowing freely down her cheeks, and he tried very, very hard to ignore them.

'Please Rick, there's so much I have to tell you …'

"Request permission to leave the ship, Admiral."

'Rick, I love you.'

"Flight Control", he called as he reopened the frequency. "Do I have permission to leave or not?"

He looked at her with a steely gaze. She said yes, and a second later he heard, 'Flight Control to Tango Three. You may leave when ready. Have a safe trip, sir.'

"Roger that, Flight Control."

He looked down at the communication panel and watched as Lisa kissed her hand and then placed her hand on the screen. He reached down and closed the channel before she could see his own tears.

He moved the throttle forward and he shot out of the hangar bay. He set his course and just looked around at the stars, oblivious to the danger he was flying into.

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The patrol had been lost for over two years. Circumstance and treachery had made it so, and when the Invid in the patrol finally found familiar stars, everything in those stars had changed in their absence. The Regent was dead, Optera had been conquered and the Invid decimated. The decision was made after days of reconnaissance and message interception to attack the root cause of their Regent's defeat, these humans from Earth.

The decision was made to attack their flagship, what they called SDF-3. They would be outnumbered and outgunned, but they had one advantage.

Surprise.

They had studied their enemy. Their patrols largely ignored their current hiding place, and their stealth mode rendered the enemy's radar and sensors useless.

They would surprise them, and soon.

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Rick tried to concentrate on flying his ship, but didn't totally succeed in blocking out the image of Lisa crying.

He was flying along the same route he flew several years ago when he took Lisa on a second honeymoon. Around the planets and moons of the system, a very roundabout journey.

He was almost enjoying the scenery when something caught his eye around the primary moon of the fourth planet in the system. The REF had designated that moon "Castor."

He checked his radar and sensors, but they reported nothing. But his eyes told him something was there. He altered his course to go take a closer look, and the closer he got the more sure he was that he saw three Invid Carriers. He checked the radar again. It didn't see them, even though it was picking up the moon and two sizable asteroids in front him.

'They're blocking the radar! Holy…' 

He keyed open the mic and said loudly, "Tango Three to SDF-3! Emergency message! There are three, I say again three Invid Carriers hiding behind 'Castor'. Do you copy SDF-3?"

There was a moment's hesitation. 'Tango Three, we're not picking up any ships on our scopes.'

Rick was trying to adjust his radar and sensor harmonics as he said, "Neither do I, SDF-3. But I have visual confirmation of three Invid Carriers!"

'Return to ship immediately, Rick', came Max's voice.

Rick screwed up his nose. "Are you picking them up yet Max?"

'Negative Tango Three. Return to ship immediately.'

He tried adjusting the harmonics to the higher range. "If you can't see them, you need someone to be your eyes."

'Rick', said Max, 'the Skull is already on their way to your position. They will handle it. Get back here now!'

"Sorry Max, but you can't give me orders." The higher range wasn't working. He began searching the lower ranges.

'Admiral Hunter', came Lisa's voice. It was forceful, but he knew her well enough to know that there was fear in there as well. 'You are ordered to return to the ship immediately.'

"Stand by SDF-3."

He was just beginning to get a picture on his radar when a particle beam shot a few feet above his canopy.

He cursed and reversed course as Max asked worriedly, 'What is it Rick?'

"I'm under attack. Looked like six, maybe eight Invid Enforcers. I'll try to outrun them, while I fine-tune the radar."

The throttle was as far as it could go and initiated some evasive maneuvers, but the Enforcers were catching up. Rick tuned the harmonics. '_Almost. A bit more. A little bit more…got it!'_

"Tango Three to SDF-3. Tune radar and sensor harmonics to frequency 3368.673 gigahertz."

His Alpha shook with another close call.

He knew he couldn't keep ahead of them for much longer. "Max, I'm reading nine Enforcers on my tail. How far away is the Skull?"

'They're still 4 minutes away Rick,' came Max's reply.

Rick shook his head and informed the Situation Room of his intentions. "No good, Max. The Enforcers will be on me in one minute. I'm going to have to fight them."

'Rick!', shouted Lisa almost hysterically. 'You can't!'

Hearing the apprehension in her voice, he confidently said, "I don't have a choice, Admiral."

He turned the Alpha around and headed for the oncoming Enforcers, slowing his speed slightly. He had several target locks with his missiles, and while he knew most of them would evade the missiles at this range, he may get a couple. He pressed the thumb trigger and a dozen missiles released from the Alpha and flew towards their targets.

The explosions were numerous, but his now active radar confirmed that only 2 of the nine Enforcers were destroyed.

He switched to Guardian mode and brought the massive canon to bear, along with the short-range missiles and nose cone lasers. Three more Enforcers bit the dust, and as Rick pushed the throttle forward and he rushed in towards the enemy he began a series of zigzag maneuvers, his finger and thumb working feverishly on the triggers. When he broke though their lines there were only two Enforcers left. He switched back to fighter mode and punched in a course for the ship, hoping the remaining Invid would break off and regroup.

No such luck.

Particle beams shot passed him as he initiated evasive maneuvers. He now had the Skull on his radar heading towards him, but they were still over a minute away.

'_All right Rick. Just two more. Not that tough.'_

His Alpha took a hit and warning messages began flashing on his screen. The threat detection computer announced incoming missiles and Rick released his countermeasures. As was the plan, the missiles deviated from their pursuit of Rick and headed for the decoys.

Rick ducked and dodged and evaded. Finally though, the Enforcers maneuvered themselves in front of him, and the space between him and them was filled with particle beams, plasma discs, missiles, lasers and pulse beams.

'_It's a real nice light show'_, it occurred to Rick.

He banked right and reconfigured to Battloid. He shot straight up and brought the Battloid's massive weapon to bear on the closest Enforcer. It fell apart as the pulse rounds tore into it.

Rick noted that the last Invid was sweeping around to his left, and as the Invid he had fired at began to explode he locked onto the last one and released a barrage of missiles, while darting to his left to face it if it survived his missiles.

The Enforcer took a hit from one of his missiles, which sheared off its right particle canon, and another hit from his own canon.

Rick was distracted by the approach of the Skull and only peripherally noticed the last Enforcer blow apart.

What he didn't notice however, was that the Enforcer got off one final shot, which headed straight for him.

'Rick, watch out!', came Miriya's horrified voice over the tac net.

He knew the Enforcer was gone and his radar showed no more Invid around, so for a split second he was lost. He raised the Battloid's head to look in the direction of the last Enforcer and just caught the barest glimpse of the plasma disc as it slammed into the stomach of his Battloid.

There were several small explosions and smoke filled his cockpit. Warning indicators were blinking everywhere giving the cockpit an eerie glow. He remembered hearing the alarm indicating that the fire suppression system activated and that emergency life support was functioning.

It was just about then that he realized there was a pain in the left side of his abdomen, and the more he thought about that pain, the more blinding the pain became.

'Rick, it's Miriya. Respond.'

"Miriya?", he said quietly.

He heard her issue orders to the Skull.

He automatically placed the call to the ship. "Tango…Three to SDF-3…I've been hit…injured…unable to return to …ship."

He felt his Alpha jolt a little, and a second later felt a forward momentum. He wasn't certain what was happening, but part of his brain realized the Skull was moving him.

He was woozy and looked down to realize he was losing a lot of blood. He processed that there was no atmosphere leakage, so his injuries were most likely from shrapnel from inside the ship. He applied as much pressure as he could to his wounds.

He heard something, something that warmed his heart and made him smile despite his dire situation and the pain.

'Rick, can you hear me? Please Rick, answer me.'

Still smiling he looked at the communication screen. It wasn't there anymore and he realized that it was probably what caused most of his injuries. '_Of all the things I've been through'_, he thought sourly,_ 'An exploding communication screen is what is going to get me. Go figure.' _Out loud he said, "Lisa."

'Rick. You're going to be okay. Do you hear me? Rick? Please hold on, you're almost home.'

The fear in her voice was for him, he realized, and that in turn released a flood of thoughts into his mind. The foremost thought on his mind though, was making sure that Lisa didn't blame herself for what had happened to him. She needed to be free to go on without the baggage of guilt and remorse. All he ever wanted was for her to be happy. Besides that, this was his fault for a number of reasons.

'I should have talked to her. I should have listened to Max. I shouldn't have been distracted.'

The pain was intense, and in between ragged breaths he spoke to her. "My Lisa…don't blame…yourself for this. Made my own choice…. I should…have stayed and talked to you…instead of running away. I'm sorry…Lisa…Forgive me."

When she spoke, her voice was shaky and cracking. 'Rick…stop talking like that. You're…you're going to be fine.' Her voice strengthened and she said, 'Do you hear me, mister. I'm giving you an order. Hold on! You're going to be fine. Do you hear me Rick?'

He leaned his head back and said quietly, "Not sure I…can follow that order…Lisa."

'Rick', she said in desperation.

He closed his eyes, and as he felt the darkness approach him he said, "I love you…Lisa. Watch over you…I… promise."

'Rick, I love you too. Please stay with me. Rick…'

It was her declaration of love for him that was the last thing he heard before the darkness finally overtook him.


	2. Chapter 2

Admiral Lisa Hunter sat in the command seat of the SDF-3. The bridge was a buzz with activity following a battery of dry runs at a fold operation.

The tests didn't go well, and the command crew braced for the worst from their commanding officer.

Lisa stood up from her seat and slowly, deliberately walked around the bridge, and as she did so she hesitated just for a second at each station. She didn't say a word, and she noticed small beads of sweat on all of them, except of course for Forsythe. He was the most experienced officer among them, and he was always cool under pressure.

She went to the door to her office off to the port side of the bridge and turned to look at her officers. Again except for Forsythe, they all regarded her with awe and a little fear.

She cleared her throat to hide her smile, and when she spoke she spoke sternly. "Captain Forsythe, I want those drills run until we get them right. Practice makes perfect, so the saying goes, and we have a lot of practicing to do, if what just happened is the best we an do."

Forsythe looked at her and replied, "Yes, ma'am."

"I am going into my office to finish the mountain of paperwork on my desk, and so help me, I'll throw anyone who disturbs me in the brig and court martial them when I get around to it, which at the rate I've been going will be in three or four years. Understood." Her eyes narrowed as she took in each of her officers.

They all replied in the affirmative and she went into her office.

She collapsed in her chair and began to look over one of the many reports she had to get through before the engineering meeting she had in about an hour or so. She was so tired, exhausted really, but she couldn't stop.

'_Almost 1800 hours'_, she said to herself.

As she got to the edge of the page, her attention floated to the picture she had on her desk of her and Rick on their wedding day.

She thought of her husband and she smiled. Things hadn't been that great for them lately. With their respective responsibilities, time for them to spend together had been short…way too short. She missed him terribly, and it was the reason she had locked herself in her office, so she could get this done and go home and be with him.

When she remembered that, she forced her attention back to the report.

She got halfway through the page when the communication console beeped at her. She answered it.

'Lisa', came Dr. Jean Grant's voice. 'When you get a chance tomorrow can you stop by? I need your advice on something.'

Lisa smiled a polite smile and said calmly, "Sure Jean. Give me a call tomorrow and remind me."

'Thanks Lisa', and Jean cut the connection.

Lisa started reading the report again, and again got halfway through the page when the communication console beeped.

She hit the button. 'Admiral, this is Lieutenant Harper in the galley. We're having a problem with some of the menu choices for next weeks banquet and we need your input.'

Lisa wanted to scream but instead said calmly, "Can it wait until tomorrow, Lieutenant?"

'Yes, ma'am, whenever you get a chance. Thank you, ma'am. Galley out.'

She took the report in her hand again and this time the console beeped before she even had a chance to begin reading it.

She slammed the report on her desk and activated the console again.

Rick's face appeared on the screen, and when he saw that she noticed him he smiled and said, 'Hi Lisa. How are you?'

She couldn't keep the frustration out of her voice. "I'm fine Rick. I'd be better if I could get some of this work done."

'I'm sorry to interrupt you, Lisa, I just needed to see you and hear your voice.'

"I'm sorry, Rick, not now", and she closed the channel.

She instantly regretted closing the channel and being so aloof with Rick. She was tired and frustrated though not with him, yet it was him that she took it out on. She had been doing that a lot recently, and hated herself for it. '_The only person I really wanted to talk to all day and I treated him like that!'_

She was about to call him back and apologize, but she saw the report and remembered. '_If I can get through these damn reports, I can go home and really surprise him.'_

She disabled the communication console's audio alert and started reading the report, and without the interruptions from the communicator she was done in minutes. She kept going through the reports so that by the time her meeting came around she was finished.

'_I'm going to turn the ringer off more often'_, she thought.

She reactivated the ringer and almost immediately it beeped. She sighed and activated the channel. She smiled and said, "Hi Miriya, how are you?"

'I am well, Admiral', came the reply. 'Max asked me to call you to see if you and Rick wanted to get together with us this evening.'

Lisa said regretfully, "Sorry, Miriya. After I finish this meeting I have in a few minutes, I'm going to go find my husband and spend a nice romantic evening with him."

Miriya smiled a wide smile and said happily, 'Understood, Admiral. What is it Max always says? Ah yes, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Lisa laughed hard and said, "Okay, Miriya. Talk to you later."

She leaned back in her chair and looked at the clock. Her last appointment was with Commander Stevens, and he would be by any minute. She closed her eyes and thought of Rick. It had been so long since they had a romantic night together, and just the thought of being with him aroused her desires and emotions to levels she hadn't felt in a long time. She was winding herself up, and though she knew it was a bad idea she couldn't help herself.

She reached for the communications console and dialed the Sit. Room. She needed to see him and talk to him, to make sure everything was okay for tonight.

'Sit. Room, Lieutenant Harrison.'

"Lieutenant, could you get Admiral Hunter for me please?"

'I'll see if he's back, ma'am.'

'_Back? From where?' _, she asked herself.

There was a knock on her door and she told whomever it was to enter. The door opened and Lt. Commander Isaac Stevens came in, and Lisa motioned for him to sit on the couch, which he did.

'Admiral Hunter, he isn't in the Sit. Room right now, ma'am. Can I take a message for him.'

She thought for a second. "No Lieutenant, thank you. I'll catch him later." She closed the channel and got up, walked to the couch and sat down.

Stevens handed her a copy of his report. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Commander", she apologized.

"No need, Admiral. You're a very busy woman. Shall I begin?", he asked.

Lisa took a deep breath, stifled a yawn and looked at him sheepishly. "Sorry, it's been a long day. By all means, go ahead."

He started the report he had compiled about the latest test results on the power generators.

He was a couple of minutes into the report when Lisa felt her eyes glaze over. She felt herself drift towards sleep, even though she could hear Stevens talking to her and she began to daydream about Rick. She saw his bright blue eyes filled with laughter, his dark, messy hair that always tried for some reason to cover his eyes and she saw his strong yet tender lips.

Her head nodded forward as she almost dozed off and she dropped the copy of the report she had been holding. She reached for the report on the floor, and as her hand got to the paper Stevens' hand landed on top of hers. He took her hand in his and brought them up to rest on her lap.

Still half asleep and the visions of Rick still in her head, she looked at the man holding her hand and saw Rick's blue eyes, felt Rick's touch and saw Rick's lips.

She closed her eyes as she was kissed and though something wasn't right, she pressed on, assuming the unfamiliarity was due to her and Rick's mini separation. She held his face in her hands and leaned back on to the arm of the couch, pulling him along without breaking their kiss.

His body was pressing against hers and her desires were running in overdrive as she felt his hands caressing her, and she kissed him harder.

'_It's so different'_, she thought. '_Has it really been that long?'_

She felt his hand take the zipper of her uniform and begin to pull it down, very slowly. She responded by rubbing his arms. '_Even his arms are different. Wait. Something is wrong.'_

Her zipper was almost undone when she broke their kiss and said breathlessly, "Rick?"

She opened her eyes and got the shock of her life. She wasn't looking into the blue eyes of her husband, but the brown eyes of Lieutenant Commander Stevens.

She came to her senses and immediately pushed him off her and got up off the couch. She walked quickly behind her desk and felt the rush of red go to her cheeks, and she couldn't decide if it was anger, embarrassment or both.

She realized her uniform zipper was down and yanked it up.

She stammered when she spoke. "I'm sorry…Commander…I don't know what came over me." She raised her right hand to her head and ran it through her brown hair, brushing it back out of her face in the process. "I was so tired and I was thinking about my husband…I just…" She looked at him with a horrified expression. "I'm so sorry."

He looked at her and said calmly, "No need to apologize, Admiral. In fact, I should apologize to you. When you didn't remove your hand from mine I assumed that something was there, and I kissed you. I was, obviously, mistaken. I am terribly sorry, ma'am."

He looked at her and saw that she was still pretty shaken up. "Admiral, would it be okay with you if we forgot it happened? It was a mistake, brought on by your fatigue and my misunderstanding. Nothing more."

She appreciated what he was saying and nodded her head. "I would really appreciate that, Commander."

She hesitated but finally said, "If it's all the same to you, Commander, could we finish this…your briefing… some other time?"

He gathered his files and replied, "Of course, Admiral." He walked to the door and as he took the handle he looked at her and said sincerely, "I am truly sorry, ma'am."

Before she could say anything else to him he opened the door and left. When she heard the door close she dropped to her knees by her desk and shook life a leaf in a hurricane.

'_What have I done?'_, she asked herself with a mixture of disgust, anger and disbelief.

Several minutes passed before she could get up, and when she did, her legs were still rubbery.

She sat down in her chair with her elbows on her desk and her hands on her head.

"Rick", she said with tears in her eyes and sorrow in her voice.

She took deep breaths and tried to calm down. After several moments she calmed down enough to activate the communications console. She brought up the bridge first. Even though the bridge was only a couple of meters away, she wasn't sure she could trust herself to go there.

'Forsythe here, Admiral.'

"I'm calling it a night Captain. See you in the morning."

'Good night, Admiral. Bridge out.'

She got up out of her chair and used the secondary entrance to her office to leave, avoiding the bridge all together.

She walked home still in a daze, and when she sat on the couch in her and Rick's quarters she couldn't for the life of her remember leaving her office and walking down to her quarters.

She just sat there on the couch, tears streaming down her delicate cheeks. Her back was against the arm of the couch and she had her knees brought up to her chest. Between her chest and her knees she hugged a pillow to herself.

'How am I going to tell him this? How can I explain that I thought it was him? What if he doesn't believe me?'

She waited for an hour and then she dialed the Sit. Room.

'Situation Room, Lieutenant Harrison speaking.'

"Lieutenant, is Admiral Hunter back yet?"

'Ah, yes ma'am, but he asked not to be disturbed. I can get him for you if you like, Admiral.'

She shook her head. "No, Lieutenant, thank you. I'll try him later." She cut the connection.

She was almost relieved he had asked not to be disturbed; it would give her a chance to recover and think of a way to tell him what had happened. Another hour passed by, and when he still hadn't come home, she thought about calling him again. She looked at the clock on their wall and it read 2145 hours.

'_I'll give him until 2200'_, she thought. '_If he's not home by then, I'll call his office line.'_

Five minutes later, Admiral Lisa Hunter fell asleep on her couch.

She dreamed of Rick and her son, their times together and the laughter they shared. It was the most wonderful feeling she felt, seeing them together.

'Mommy', Roy was saying to her, 'Mommy it's time to wake up. Mommy, wake up…' 

Wake up.

She opened her eyes and immediately felt pain in her neck, the pain that came with sleeping in an unnatural position. She stretched out the kinks that would go away and glanced at the clock.

'_O655?'_, she thought in amazement.

She got up and headed into the bedroom, but when she got to the door she realized that she was still alone in her quarters. Their bed was still made up as though no one had slept in it. She took a look inside the bathroom and came back into the living room. There was no sign of Rick anywhere. '_He didn't come home'_, she realized.

She blinked her eyes together several times, trying to make sure she was awake and fully functional, when her eyes fell upon an envelope by the door.

As she picked it up, she realized that someone had slipped it underneath the door, and that her name written on the envelope was written in Rick's handwriting. She opened the envelope and took out the note that was inside.

She read:

'To: Admiral Lisa Hunter.

Admiral,

I am writing this note to you to inform you that at 0700 hours this morning I will be taking a three-day vacation off the ship. I have accumulated more than enough leave time to cover this time off. I have requisitioned an Alpha for the purpose of traveling, and have left instructions with General Max Sterling on how to reach me should it be necessary.

(Signed) Admiral Rick Hunter.'

She read the note again, and then again.

'Vacation? What is he doing? Why did he leave a note?' 

"Rick", she said out loud. She looked at the clock again. It read 0701, and she headed out the door.

She ran to the Flight Control section of the hangar deck, and when she entered the room, the duty officer, a young female Lieutenant saluted and said, "Welcome to Flight Control, Admiral Hunter. Is there something I can do for you, ma'am?"

Lisa ignored her and listened to one of the controllers as he spoke into his microphone.

"Roger, Admiral Hunter. Your call sign for this flight will be Tango Three, please confirm."

She rushed to that controller and said quietly, "Stall him, Lieutenant."

She heard Rick say over the speaker, 'Confirmed, Flight Control. Call sign Tango Three.'

"Stand by, Tango Three." He looked up at Lisa and said, "Yes, ma'am?"

Lisa looked at the flight status of Tango Three. Fully fueled with extra fuel tanks. No flight plan was listed. Three days was the time allotted for the Alpha requisition.

Lisa looked at the female Lieutenant and said quietly, "I need to talk to him privately."

"Yes, ma'am", said the Lieutenant. She pointed to the office and said, "I'll patch him through to you in there."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Lisa walked calmly into the office and shut the door.

She sat down and activated the communication console just in time to hear Rick say, 'Flight Control, what's the problem up there?'

She said softly into the communication unit, "Rick."

When he didn't respond she tried again to talk to him. "Rick. What's going on? Where are you going?"

She activated the visual feed, but he wasn't accepting visual communications, and she was beginning to feel a sense of deep dread wash over her. This was so unlike Rick, to just decide to take off, and it shocked and upset her that he was going to leave without saying good-bye.

His face came up on the view screen and she immediately noticed the bags under his eyes. More importantly, she noticed that his usually bright, blue eyes were blank and faded. The last time she saw his eyes like that was a very long time ago.

'I'm taking a three day vacation, Admiral.'

'He's calling me 'Admiral'. Even in his note he called me that, not Lisa.'

She tried to sound calm as she asked, "What's wrong, Rick?"

'Nothing Admiral. I just wanted to leave the ship for a few days.'

'He sounds so tired and so…angry, no not angry. Hurt? Leave the ship?' 

She was more worried about him than she had ever been. She needed desperately to talk to him. "Rick, please come up here and talk to me."

His response was void of feeling. 'Negative, Admiral. I'm ready to go, and I would prefer to wait…to talk to you.'

"Wait to talk to me? Why? About what? Rick! Talk to me, please!", she pleaded. The look on his face was neutral…but his eyes.

'Is this a secure channel?'

It wasn't, so she reached to the console and activated the security protocol to lock down the frequency and encrypt their conversation. "It is now. What's going on? Why did you leave me a note instead of talking to me?"

He looked away from her and asked, 'How was your day yesterday?'

'Of all the questions to ask right now.'

Her voice betrayed her confusion when she said, "What? Fine. Rick please…"

He still avoided her eyes as he asked quietly, 'A lot of meetings?'

Dumbfounded, she simply replied, "Yes."

He finally looked at her and asked, 'How was your meeting with Commander Stevens?'

She was floored by that question. She was caught completely off guard and she knew that the drain of color from her face was telling him everything, but she was powerless to stop it.

She stammered, "Stevens. Fine…that meeting was…fine."

'It looked like it was a lot more than fine to me, Admiral', he said curtly.

'_It looked…what is he saying?'_ To him she asked, "What are you talking about Rick?", but she already knew the answer.

He knew.

His voice faltered just the tiniest bit. 'I saw you, Admiral. I saw you kiss him.'

She could feel the surprise register on her face, even though she realized that he knew. "How did…Rick?"

As he closed his eyes he said, 'I missed you yesterday.' She saw him open his eyes to look at her, and when he did she was sure that his eyes had faded even more. 'I called you and you were so…distant, and I missed you…so much. I took an Alpha out for a flight and decided to surprise you by going to Battloid and knocking on your office window, but when I looked inside I got the surprise.'

"Rick, you don't understand…", she tried to explain, but he wouldn't listen.

'That's an understatement', he interrupted. 'I saw you Lisa. I saw you hold hands. I saw you kiss him. I saw you pull him over to lie on top of you. And I saw him undo your uniform.'

She was devastated by the pain and anger in his voice. He thought that she had deliberately cheated on him and kissed another man, even made love to him. She could feel her eyes well up with tears and she was about to tell him that she didn't sleep with Stevens. "Rick you've got to listen to me! It wasn't…"

'Don't you dare cry, Admiral. What right do you have to cry right now?'

The anger in his voice surprised her and she instinctively winced. They had had plenty of arguments over the years, what married couple didn't, but he had never sounded as angry and hurt as he did right now.

Again she tried to explain, "Rick, there's more to it, it's not what you think. I didn't realize it wasn't …"

He shook his head and said, 'Admiral, I need to be alone right now. I need to know what I am feeling before I can even begin to talk about this, and I can't do that aboard ship.'

"Rick, where…"

Again he interrupted he. 'I've left orders for Max to take control of the Sit. Room, and he has my flight plan and destination. Please don't ask him anything about it, unless it's an emergency. You owe me that much.'

Lisa cried freely, the huge drops falling from her cheeks to her uniform. She couldn't stop it even if she wanted to. Her husband was telling her that he was leaving, and even though it was for a few days, it was more than she could stand.

"Please Rick, there's so much I have to tell you…", she pleaded.

'Request permission to leave the ship, Admiral.'

"Rick, I love you."

She saw him clear the secure channel protocol and said, 'Flight Control, do I have permission to leave or not?'

Lisa realized that anything else she said right now would only hurt him further. He had made up his mind, and he hadn't had time enough to calm down and listen. As much as it hurt her, she had to give him what he wanted…time. '_Let him calm down, Lisa'_, she thought to herself. '_When he calms down and listens, he'll understand.'_ She hoped.

She softly said, "Yes."

She heard Flight Control grant his permission to eave and his acknowledgement. She looked at him as he prepared to take off, and when he looked at her again she slowly brought her hand up to her lips and planted a kiss there. Then she gently placed her hand on the monitor, as gently as though she were placing her kiss directly on his lips.

When he broke the connection, her heart broke along with it.

Seconds later he was gone. Lisa cleaned her face as well as she could and left Flight Control without saying a word.

As she walked through her ship her mind was filled with thoughts of the past twelve hours. It was all a jumble of words, images and feelings…strong feelings of pain and hopelessness.

'_How could I have let this happen?'_, she said to herself, mystified at how things spiraled so out of control. She remembered the look of loss in his eyes. '_He was so angry and so hurt. I just wish I could have made him listen. Why couldn't you just listen to me, Rick?'_

She looked up and found herself outside the Situation Room.

'_I need to know he's okay', _she thought as she opened the door to go inside. She looked around at the hustle and bustle. It was always like that in during the workday.

"Admiral on deck!", announced one of the security officers stationed at the door.

The activity in the Sit. Room ground to a halt in a hurry, and she found her voice and said loudly, "As you were." With her words, the activity resumed in earnest.

She eyed one of the three big radar screens at the far end of the room, and without taking her eyes off of it she slowly walked down to stand in front of it. She scantly noticed the visual representations of other REF ships, the planets and so forth, and concentrated on a single blip that was approaching the fourth planet of the system. It was the blip the board had designated as Tango Three.

She looked at the female radar technician sitting at the screen's control console and asked, "Lieutenant, could you please put the flight path of Tango Three on the screen?"

The tech obliged, and Lisa looked at the journey that Rick had taken so far.

She recognized almost immediately. '_Our honeymoon'_, she thought warmly. '_It's the exact path he took when he flew us to the Planetia Colony.'_

She jumped a little as she was startled by the touch of a hand on her shoulder.

She turned around to see Max with his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry, Lisa, I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay, Max. I was...in another world I think." She turned to look at the screen again and noticed that Rick was slowing down by 'Castor'.

Max lowered his voice to a whisper and asked Lisa, "What's going on, Lisa? Why did Rick take off this morning? All he left me was a note."

Before Lisa could say anything to Max, a message came through the Sit. Room's speakers.

'Tango Three to SDF-3! Emergency message! There are three, I say again three Invid Carriers hiding behind 'Castor'. Do you copy SDF-3?'

Everyone looked at the radar screen, but saw nothing by the moon, only Rick's Alpha and a couple of big rocks.

Lisa looked at Max, who just shook his head at her. '_He doesn't see anything. Still, Rick doesn't see things either.'_

The radar tech that Lisa had asked to put Rick's trail on the screen opened a channel to him and said, "Tango Three, we're not picking up any ships on our scopes."

As the tech spoke to Rick, she picked up a communication headset and called the bridge. By that time, Forsythe had assumed his station. "Captain, place the ship and the rest of the fleet on full alert, we have intelligence that there may be three Invid Carriers within striking distance."

'Yes, ma'am', was his reply, and a second later the red alert lights lit up.

At the same time that Lisa issued orders to the bridge, Max issued orders to scramble the Skull.

She turned her attention back to Rick as he said, 'Neither do I, SDF-3. But I have visual confirmation of three Invid Carriers!'

Her heart was pounding in fear for her husband's safety. She was just about to tell him to get back to the ship when Max beat her to it.

"Return to ship immediately, Rick", said Max with authority. And he had it, as the commander of the Sit. Room his orders held almost as much weight as her own.

'Are you picking them up yet Max?', asked Rick.

Max checked the board one more time and responded, "Negative Tango Three. Return to ship immediately."

She looked at the board herself and could still see only Rick's alpha.

Rick replied, 'If you can't see them, you need someone to be your eyes.'

But Max was waiting for that answer and said immediately, "Rick, the Skull is already on their way to your position. They will handle it. Get back here now!"

'Sorry Max, but you can't give me orders.'

Before Max could say anything to that, Lisa leaned in close to the microphone, and despite the fear and dread she was feeling in the pit of her stomach she said in her coolest, most authoritative voice, "Admiral Hunter, you are ordered to return to the ship immediately."

'Stand by SDF-3', was his response, and for the umpteenth time since she had met Rick Hunter she asked herself, '_Why can't he just follow orders?'_

Lisa and Max watched as a male radar tech in front of them worked his keyboard, trying to find what it was that Rick was seeing.

Over the speakers came a burst of static, followed by a rather nasty expletive from Rick.

Terribly afraid, Lisa gripped the back of the radar tech's chair and heard Max say in a panic, "What is it Rick?"

Lisa looked at Max as Rick said hurriedly, 'I'm under attack. Looked like six, maybe eight Invid Enforcers. I'll try to outrun them, while I fine-tune the radar.'

A few seconds passed and Lisa was so gripped with fear that all she could do was listen to Rick and Max.

'Tango Three to SDF-3. Tune radar and sensor harmonics to frequency 3368.673 gigahertz.'

The radar tech did so without waiting for approval from Max or Lisa, and was rewarded a moment later when the radar screen shimmered and the truth of the situation came into focus on the screen.

There was another burst of static. 'Max, I'm reading nine Enforcers on my tail. How far away is the Skull?'

Max took a quick look at the screen and said with regret, "They're still 4 minutes away Rick."

Rick understood. 'No good, Max. The Enforcers will be on me in one minute. I'm going to have to fight them.'

At that Lisa came out of her shell and shouted in to the mic, "Rick, you can't!"

When Rick's voice came back it was confident. 'I don't have a choice, Admiral.'

She was about to say something else, give him another order, beg him to come home, but Max silenced her when he put her hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, ready to have it out with him for stopping her, but the look in his face stopped her. He slowly shook his head and said very quietly, "You'll only distract him, Lisa."

She knew he was right. Rick would need to focus on combat and survival, and having her scream and yell at him over the TAC net would do him no good at all.

She nodded and turned her attention back to the screen to see that Rick had launched some missiles and had taken out two of the nine pursuers. She watched the blip of Tango Three head straight for the enemy in a zigzag pattern and her heart stopped and didn't start again until she saw that he had broken through the line and reduced their number to two.

She heard Max whistle and exclaim quietly, "No rust there!"

She noticed that the blips representing the Skull were nearing Rick's position. '_Come on Miriya, go faster'_, she willed.

She could see the Invid maneuver to get between Rick and the oncoming Skull squadron, and after several tense moments she cheered to herself when she saw another Invid disappear from the screen.

She brought her hands together in front of her as if she were saying a prayer and said, "Come on, Rick. One more."

Finally the last Invid vanished off the scope and the Sit. Room erupted in cheers and applause.

Lisa threw her arms around Max's neck, and he returned her embrace by putting his arms around her waist.

They hugged each other in shared relief until they heard Miriya's frantic call over the speaker, 'Rick, watch out!'

Lisa released Max and looked at the screen. There were no other immediate threats and she was at a loss. She looked at Max and he shrugged his shoulders.

'Rick, it's Miriya. Respond.'

Lisa's blood stopped flowing as it turned to ice in her veins. She had never heard Miriya sound so afraid.

They heard Rick say tiredly, 'Miriya?'

Lisa felt Max's right arm go around her shoulder and his left hand take hers.

'Tango…Three to SDF-3…I've been hit…injured…unable to return to …ship."

She knew he was in terrible pain. The realization hit her that she may actually lose him and she would have surely sunk to the floor if Max hadn't been supporting her.

They knew from the orders they heard Miriya issue that they were trying to bring Rick back to the ship.

Lisa felt Max squeeze her hand, and when she looked at him he said in a whisper, "Talk to him."

Max looked at the closest tech and said, "Vacate the chair, Ensign."

He did as he was ordered and Max gently eased Lisa into it. Max motioned for everyone close to her to scram, and a second later she was almost alone.

Lisa took the mic in her trembling hands and said, "Rick, can you hear me? Please Rick, answer me."

She waited for what seemed like forever. 'Lisa.'

Tears filled her eyes when she heard him say her name.

"Rick. You're going to be okay. Do you hear me? Rick? Please hold on, you're almost home."

'My Lisa…don't blame…yourself for this. Made my own choice…. I should…have stayed and talked to you…instead of running away. I'm sorry…Lisa… Forgive me.'

His voice was so full of pain and raspy. She couldn't stop the tears from falling, and when she spoke she couldn't keep her voice calm. "Rick, stop talking like that. You're going to be fine."

She felt Max's hand on her shoulder again, showing her the support that she so desperately needed.

It worked, and when she spoke again her voice was clear, "Do you hear me, mister. I'm giving you an order. Hold on! You're going to be fine. Do you hear me Rick?"

'Not sure I…can follow that order…Lisa.'

His breathing had become more ragged, and she could almost feel the pain in his voice. She wanted so badly to help him, to hold him and to love him.

All she could think of was to say his name. "Rick."

When he spoke again, Lisa heard the sound of a light being extinguished. 'I love you…Lisa. Watch over you…I… promise.'

She gripped the mic with all her might, trying desperately to transfer her life to him. "Rick, I love you too. Please stay with me. Rick?"

There was no response.

"Rick?"

Again there was no response, and as the world faded to black her mind registered that she was falling off the chair and that Max had caught her before she hit the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Miriya's Skull group had gotten Rick's damaged Alpha within a couple of minutes of the ship, Max had gotten Lisa to wake up, and when they entered the hangar bay they could see the flight crew already working feverishly to get Rick out of the Battloid. Her mind was a complete blank as she had moved through the ship, Max supporting her the entire way, but when she saw the damaged Battloid her heart sank.

The assembled crowd of pilots and flight crew parted to let Lisa and Max through, and they moved as close as they could get to the Battloid. That wasn't really true. They stood as close as Max would let them get. Lisa knew he was keeping them back farther than they had to be in regards to their safety. He was worried about what she might see or hear and she didn't know what she felt more about that…annoyed that he thought that she might not be able to handle whatever happened, or grateful for his support and protectiveness.

She still felt a little off center, and she felt appreciative for Max's strong hand on her arm, supporting her. It was only another few moments when she felt an equally strong hand on her other arm, and she knew it was Miriya before she looked over for confirmation.

The flight crew finally got the emergency hatch open and they looked inside. Of the four of them to look inside Rick's Alpha, only the crew chief didn't flinch. While the other three were in shock at what they saw, one of them actually lost his lunch, the Chief was in as far as he could get, trying to help Rick. Finally, one of them shook off the shock and helped the chief.

A murmur spread throughout the assembled crew members. She saw Max look to Miriya, and she strengthened her hold on Lisa as Max let go of her arm and stepped forward, faced the crowd and said, "I want everyone but medical personnel to leave here now." For emphasis, he stepped closer to the crowd and said, "Right now."

Lisa didn't look, but she could hear and even sense the crowd disperse behind her. '_Bless you, Max'_, she thought thankfully.

Max took her arm again and they waited anxiously. Lisa watched as Jean and her medical team moved a gurney into position, and after what seemed like a slow motion eternity, the Chief and his crew finally got Rick out of the Battloid and placed him on the stretcher. When they laid him down, they stepped back and Lisa got a sick feeling in her stomach when she saw Jean grimace as she gave Rick a once over. Her staff got to work, covering Rick and tending to what appeared to her to be extensive wounds. Her sick feeling intensified when she glanced back to the Chief and noticed the abundant red stains on his hands and clothes.

They were strapping her husband onto the gurney when she saw him look in their direction. Her heart soared as she thought, '_He's awake!'_ She could see him grab Jean, and a second later she was looking towards them. Lisa was expecting Jean to call her over to be with him, but when Jean called out to Max, she was devastated. '_Even in so much pain he can't get past what he thinks he saw.'_

Max looked at her. "Go", she murmured to him, and he ran over to Rick. She watched as Max held Rick's hand and leaned down to talk to him, but before either of them could say anything the med techs began moving the gurney.

When they went through the door, Miriya moved to follow them, but Lisa wouldn't budge. Lisa moved instead towards the Battloid, and as Miriya helped her along she said, "Lisa, I do not think this is wise."

Lisa didn't hear her, and she slipped out of Miriya's grasp. As Lisa approached the Alpha, she heard one of the flight crew ask the Chief, "Did you ever see a comm. screen blow like that?" The Chief was shaking his head and said, "Nope. Never. I had thought I had seen it all."

Lisa stopped behind them as they surveyed the damaged interior. "Chief", she said just loud enough to be heard. The Chief and the flight crewmembers all stood up, and the Chief moved in front of the open hatch to hide the sight of the cockpit from her. "Could you stand aside please?" She wanted to see where her husband was injured and to see the damage.

She kept her face stern as the Chief looked into her eyes. "Ma'am, I really don't think you need to see this."

She knew he was looking out for her, but she wanted to see, needed to see. "I appreciate that Chief, but you're wrong. I do need to see." She noticed the Chief glance behind her, and before Miriya could even try to assist him, she said, "I have to Miriya." She turned to face her friend. "If it were Max, you would want to."

She saw a solemn look come over the Zentraedi's face, and realizing that Miriya would not stop her, Lisa turned to face the Chief. "If you please, Chief, stand aside." He nodded and moved away.

Lisa summoned all of her strength and moved to the wide-open emergency hatch. She bent over to look inside, resting her hand on the top edge of the hatch for the support she was sure she would need, and the sight of Rick's blood everywhere brought tears to her eyes and a pain to her chest that she hadn't felt since the day her hesitation got him shot down over the Pacific Ocean years earlier. The throttle, what was left of the main view screen, the forward instrument panel…all covered in crimson. '_The seat…it's drenched in…oh my God, he's lost so much…'_ She turned and ran towards the doors to the hangar, and she could hear Miriya following her. She never bothered to go to the elevator; instead she headed to the nearby stairs, which she flew down at a blistering pace. She reached G deck and bolted through the doors just in time to see the OR doors close. She was just about to barge through them when she heard someone moan her name.

She stopped in her tracks at the pitiful sound and turned around to see Max sitting on the floor next to the elevator. He had his back against the wall, his knees brought up to his chest and his left hand was on the floor alongside him. He had his right hand in front of him, looking at the red stains as though they were sacred. He wasn't crying, but his eyes were moist. Lisa had never seen Max in such a state, not even when they thought they had lost Dana when she was five, and it filled her with a terrible sense of dread.

Miriya came through the stairway door and went to him, and Lisa watched as Miriya tried to comfort Max. She helped him to stand up, and Max looked at Lisa and said, "Why did he want me to tell you that this wasn't your fault?" He took a shaky step towards her and asked, "What happened, Lisa?"

Lisa felt her tears leave her eyes and follow the pull of the ship's artificial gravity, and she avoided his question by asking, "How is he, Max?"

She could tell he was torn between answering her question and demanding an answer to his own, and she was relieved when it seemed that she had won this round. Max took an unsteady breath and said, "He passed out when the doors opened. They took them straight in. It…it doesn't look good, Lisa."

Lisa felt her legs get weak, but she managed to hold her ground. '_Please God, don't let him die…please.'_

As she finished the thought Max continued, "He wanted me to tell you that it wasn't your fault, that he was stubborn and he's to blame." He took a deep breath. "He wanted you to know that he loves you…very much. He asked me to look after you…to look after you and Roy."

Lisa's knees began to buckle and Miriya rushed to her side, lending her the support she needed to stay on her feet.

Max put his blood stained hand on the wall. "He told me", he said shakily, "that I was his Little Brother, like he was Roy's." He brought his arm down and leaned his back against the wall, and as he looked up at the ceiling he whispered, "He doesn't think he's going to make it."

The elevator doors opened and the Situation Room's third officer, Lieutenant Slade, stepped up to Lisa and held out a piece of paper for her to take. She took it from him, almost as if in a trance, and as he turned to go back into the elevator, she handed it to Miriya. Miriya looked at the paper and said, "Vince and Forsythe report that the Invid forces have withdrawn. They credit Rick with sounding the alarm, allowing the _Ares _and the _Apollo_ to meet them before they initiated their attack."

Lisa turned from Max and Miriya and walked unsteadily towards the OR doors. She had walked three steps when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned as Max took his hand away, and faced him. Before he could ask, she began.

"Rick saw Lt. Commander Stevens kiss me in my office last evening." She waited for what she had said to sink in, and it didn't take long at all. Max stepped back as though she had physically hit him, and he had a wide-eyed, disgusted look on his face. '_I can't blame him, I suppose. If he told me something similar I'd react the same way.'_ She looked to Miriya, who had moved to take Max's arm. Lisa could see fiery anger in her green eyes, and only for Max needing her right now, Lisa figured Miriya would be a lot more upset.

"It's not what either of you are thinking", she explained. She lowered her voice and looked to the floor. "I was so tired…and I was daydreaming about Rick when Stevens came to my office for a meeting." She looked up at them and could see doubt in their faces, but she could also see that they wanted to believe her. "He started going on about…", she laughed as she tried to remember, "…I can't even remember what he was talking about. I dozed off…I actually dozed off sitting up and listening to a report, and when I looked at him again I saw Rick leaning in to kiss me…and I responded as though it was Rick, even letting him begin to undo my uniform." She was crying again, or still, she couldn't tell anymore, and she didn't really care. She moved to a chair near the OR doors, sat down and put her hands over her face. "Before I realized what was happening and stopped it, Rick saw and assumed the worst."

Max regained some of his senses and asked, "How did he see you if you were in your office?"

Lisa lowered her hands and looked at the wall across from her. She laughed at would normally be a funny and romantic image and she explained. "He wanted to surprise me, so he took the Battloid up to my office window. He saw Stevens kiss me, but not the rest. Not me pushing him off or…" She couldn't take the thought anymore and broke down in earnest. She sobbed uncontrollably, and just when she thought she was going to go over the edge Max knelt down in front of her, put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into an embrace. "It's okay, Lisa."

She threw her arms around his waist and let it all go. "He can't die Max, he can't." She felt Miriya's hand on her shoulder, and for many minutes, she cried into the shoulder of her friend, and try as he did to reassure her that everything was going to turn out okay, she knew he didn't really believe it himself. Finally, she calmed down enough to lean back to face him. "It was an accident, Max. A mistake. I was…I was just so tired and I thought it was him, only for a few moments."

She stood up and walked gingerly down the hallway, hugging herself as she went, suddenly chilled to the bone. She turned around by the elevators and headed back towards the OR. "I tried to talk to him. I tried to call him in the Sit. Room, and then I fell asleep waiting for him to come home. But he didn't. I woke up this morning and found a note he slipped under the door, telling me he was leaving for a few days. I ran to Flight Control and tried to tell him what had happened, but he wouldn't listen…he was so hurt and so angry." Lisa fought back a new wave of tears and sobs as she remembered the pain in his faded blue eyes. "He said he needed to figure out what he felt. He thought I…he thought that I was with another man."

Her balance wavered and she had to support herself against the wall with her right hand. Miriya moved to her, put her arm around Lisa and guided her back to the chair. They sat there in silence for what seemed like forever. She didn't know what to do or what to say. '_I'm sure they don't know what to say after the bombshell I dropped on them.'_

Eight hours had passed when the OR doors opened and Jean Grant walked towards them. She was dressed in the traditional surgical greens…though the front of her shirt was no longer green but the color of crimson, the same color that Lisa had seen so much of in the cockpit of Rick's damaged Alpha and on Max's hand.

Only for the fact that she really needed to hear what Jean was going to say, she would have fainted.

Lisa prided herself on being able to gauge the physical and emotional state of her crew, for her it was an integral part of being their commanding officer. Never had that ability brought her so much trepidation as it did when she watched Jean Grant walk towards her from within the operating room area. She could see the despair and uncertainty in the eyes of her CMO.

Lisa stood up as Jean neared her. Miriya stood next to her on one side and Max stood next to her on the other.

Jean nodded to Miriya and Max, and she moved to stand in front of Lisa.

Lisa looked to Jean, who put her hands on Lisa's arms and steered her gently into the chair she was sitting in earlier. '_This isn't a good sign'_, she thought absently. "He made it through surgery, Lisa, but he's still very weak. He's not out of the woods yet. The communications screen shattered…I don't know why, that's a question best left to the engineers and flight crew. Multiple shards hit Rick in the lower left abdomen, about here." Jean placed her left hand on her belly and patted it to show Lisa. She then moved her hand a little farther up on the same side and held there. "Another piece, a fairly sizable piece, entered here, between the ribs. The bigger piece hit his spleen and caused an enormous amount of blood loss, and we had to remove his damaged spleen. One of the smaller pieces from the lower stomach just nicked an artery, and while that too caused a lot of blood loss, it was relatively easy to repair. There was no damage to the liver, kidneys or other organs…he was lucky…very lucky, in that regard."

Through tear filled eyes Lisa asked, "Will he be okay, Jean?" Jean began to answer her when Lisa added, "The truth, Jean."

Jean lowered her eyes to the floor. "If you're looking for guarantees, Lisa, I'm sorry", she looked up and Lisa saw her eyes well up, "I can't give them to you. He's lost a lot of blood and has gone through a very physically traumatic experience…and we lost him once during the surgery...I just don't know." She took Lisa's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "He's in good shape and healthy, Lisa, that all works in his favor. We're doing all we can, I promise."

Lisa knew it had to be hard for Jean to tell her that. She squeezed Jean's hand in gratitude and said quietly, "Thank you, Jean." She glanced at the OR doors and asked, "Can I see him?"

Jean shook her head. "Not for a while. We want to make sure he's stable and give his body a chance to deal with what's being thrown at it."

Lisa nodded her head, overwhelmed by the seriousness of her husband's condition, and as she tried to figure out how in the world they had gotten to that point, Jean stood up. Lisa saw her motion to Max and Miriya to move down the hall, and when they all moved away from Lisa, Jean started talking to them. When she was finished she looked at Lisa and said, "I'll let you know when you can see him, but it probably won't be until tomorrow morning."

She was about to protest, but Jean said forcefully, "He needs the time, Lisa. Why don't you go home and get some rest. I'll let you know if…"

Lisa managed a smile for her benefit. "I'm fine, Jean."

Jean nodded and went back through the doors. Max came over to her and got down on one knee. "I'm going to head to the Sit. Room and check in on Vince…the poor guy has been thrown to the lions. Is there anything you need or want me to do or get?"

Lisa looked at Max, his eyes still moist and faded with fear and grief behind his tinted glasses, and couldn't help but hug him. She felt his arms go around her, and she said, "Thank you, Max." She released him and sat back in the chair. "Could you check in with Forsythe, ask him if there is anything I should know? Make sure everything is okay up there."

Max smiled. "No problem. Anything else? Food or drink?"

Lisa shook her head. "The only thing I really need right now, Max", she whispered, "is to hold my husband."

Max nodded his understanding, stood up and asked Miriya the same question. She shook her head, and after he gave her a kiss he was off.

'_They never seem to have any problems'_, she thought, though she knew better, perhaps better than anyone, even Rick. She knew that Max and Miriya had to work hard at their relationship, but they always made it look so easy. Miriya sat in the chair next to her and reached over to hold Lisa's left hand. Lisa put her right hand on top of Miriya's and they did the only thing they could do: they waited…they waited through the night, leaving the OR area only long enough to freshen up. Every once in a while, Lisa would catch a catnap, but she couldn't find peaceful sleep, not with Rick fighting to live.

Twelve hours later Jean's visit, Lisa couldn't take it anymore...she had to see him, she had to be near him. Max had taken it upon himself to keep an eye on the Sit. Room, and as such he had come and gone several times, and was gone now. Miriya had to go to the washroom, so she was alone in the corridor. She stood up and walked to the OR doors, opened them and stepped inside. She walked the few steps into the section and came to a divide in the corridor. It went straight ahead, to the left and to the right. She had been in this section of the infirmary only once before, years ago when she first assumed command of the ship and went on an inspection tour. She had no idea where Rick would be, other than the obvious recovery room, but there were no signs that she could see.

She stood in the middle of the intersection, closed her eyes and concentrated. She concentrated with all of her soul on the most important thing in her life at that moment: Rick.

With her eyes still closed, she turned her head to the left, then straight ahead and then to the right. When Lisa faced the corridor to the right, a peaceful, warm feeling washed over her. She opened her eyes and began walking down that corridor, and the farther down the corridor she went, the more intense the warmth became. She walked until she stood in front of a large window that had the words 'Critical Care Unit' posted in the upper left hand corner. She looked through the window and the air rushed out of her chest as she realized just what it was that she saw.

She stepped back brought her hands up to her mouth to try to keep the terrified scream that was there from exiting her mouth. Her eyes welled up again and she forced herself to move back to the window. Just on the other side of the glass was her worst nightmare…Rick in a hospital bed with all sorts of tubes and wires connected to him, surrounded by machinery working to keep him alive long enough for his own body to fight back to life.

At that particular moment, she couldn't imagine seeing anything else that would smother her soul more.

'_Rick'_, she moaned inwardly. '_Please Rick, don't leave me. Please.'_ She put her hand on the window, holding it there as if she had her hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat.

"Lisa!"

Lisa never flinched; she was too focused on Rick. "I'm sorry Jean", she said quietly, "but I just had to be near him."

Jean came up beside Lisa and put her arm around her. "I know, Lisa, but it's five in the morning and I just didn't want you to see him like that." She turned her attention to Rick and said, "We had to insert a breathing tube and hook him up to a respirator. I was hoping he would start breathing on his own before you saw him."

Lisa lowered her head and whispered, "What am I going to do if he doesn't make it, Jean?"

"You have to be positive, Lisa. Rick is a tough, stubborn man who won't go down without a fight." Jean hesitated as she watched a nurse enter Rick's room and check on him and the machinery. "He has a lot to fight for, Lisa. He'll fight for Roy, and he'll fight for you."

Lisa was so distraught by Jean's words she couldn't speak or even cry. '_That's just it, Jean. I know he'll fight for Roy, but he won't fight for me…not after what he thinks I did to him.'_

"I want you to stay here Lisa, under no circumstances are you to enter that room. Do you understand?" To emphasize the seriousness of what she was saying, Jean turned Lisa to face her and asked again, "Do you understand?"

Still thinking about what Jean had said about Rick, she simply nodded her head, and the wetness on her cheeks caused by the many tears she had cried caused her hair to stick to her cheek.

She watched as Jean walked away from her, only to reappear inside Rick's room several minutes later. Lisa watched intently as the nurse talked to Jean, and after Jean checked some of the instruments herself, she nodded to the nurse. Lisa's heart started to thump loudly in her chest as Jean walked towards her, and when Jean reached the window she moved to the side and pressed the button on an intercom that Lisa hadn't even noticed was there.

Jean's voice filtered through the tiny speaker off to the left. 'I told you he was stubborn, Lisa. He's breathing on his own and we're going to remove the breathing tube. It can be an unpleasant thing to watch, Lisa, so I'm going to close the blinds. Don't worry. I'll open them again when we're done."

Lisa closed her eyes in relief, but opened them again when she heard Jean say, 'Why don't you go and freshen up…get some coffee and a snack. He's going to need you, Lisa, and you need to be strong for him.'

'_I'll give you credit, Jean. That's the only thing you could have said to get me out of here, even if only for a few minutes.' _To Jean she said, "I'll head to our quarters and change and grab a little something."

'You better, or am I going to have to get Miriya to go with you?'

Lisa actually smiled. "I promise. Jean, call me immediately if…"

'I will, Lisa. I promise.'

Lisa took one last look at her husband and slowly, against her will and better judgment, moved away from the window, and after Jean closed the blinds, she started to walk back down the corridor towards the exit.

When she emerged through the OR doors, Max and Miriya were both back, and when they saw her they stood up and waited. Lisa walked up to them, and after noting the fear in their eyes said, "He's breathing on his own and they're removing his breathing tube. Jean told me to go and get something to eat." She looked back to the OR doors and hesitated, not wanting to be any farther away from Rick than was necessary.

"Lisa?"

She turned to face Miriya. "Lisa, I will go with you." She turned to face Max and said, "Max will stay here."

Max nodded his agreement. "You guys go on."

Lisa thought for a second about telling Miriya to stay as well, but she knew that once the Colonel had her mind made up, there was very little anyone could do to change it.

She walked towards the elevator with Miriya close behind. Lisa pushed the button to summon the elevator, and when the doors opened she stepped inside and leaned her back against the back wall. Miriya moved inside and pressed the button for B deck, where Rick and Lisa's quarters were. They traveled in silence, and Lisa wondered if Miriya kept from talking because she was mad with her about Stevens, or if she just didn't know what to say.

The doors opened and a couple of minutes later, Lisa opened the door to her quarters and walked inside. As she heard Miriya close the door behind them, her eyes found Rick's note where she had left it on the coffee table. The floodgates opened and Lisa fell to her knees, resting her right hand on the coffee table for support.

Lisa could no longer stave off the avalanche of tears and the deep sobs that wanted to escape from deep within her chest. She had held them in as long as she could. Miriya was beside her in an instant, and Lisa felt immensely grateful that she wasn't alone.

"Miriya", Lisa managed, "what if…what if he doesn't…" The thought of what she was trying to say only intensified her distress, and as an extension of that, her crying.

Miriya knelt down beside her, and as Lisa felt her friend's arm go around her shoulders, she heard, "Rick will not die, Lisa…you will not let him. When you go to him, talk to him and make him understand. Tell him he must fight and that you will help him."

Lisa calmed herself so that she could listen to Miriya. "Zentraedi believe that a warrior who was injured in battle can hear those around him…hear their thanks and their praise."

Miriya shuffled over on her knees to face Lisa, put her hands on Lisa's shoulders, and as Lisa looked into Miriya's eyes she saw that her friend was telling her something that not everyone knew.

"But most importantly, Lisa, a wounded warrior can hear the pleas of those who care for them to return. They can hear the encouragement and gain strength from it for the fight back to life."

Lisa closed her eyes and thought for a second. '_I have to be strong for him, let him know how I feel, what happened and that I need him. I have to…get up.'_

Lisa opened her eyes, and saw a small smile on Miriya's face. Lisa returned the smile and stood up. "Excuse me, Miriya", Lisa said with a determination that surprised even her, "I have to change and go help my husband."

Miriya stood up as well and clapped her hands together. "Excellent! I will make you something to eat." Before Lisa could mount an argument, Miriya said, "You cannot give him strength if you have none yourself."

Lisa nodded her head slowly, looked at Miriya and said quietly, "You're a wise woman, my friend."

"So Max keeps telling me…now go."

Lisa smiled and headed to her bedroom, changed into a fresh uniform and used the washroom. When she returned to the living room, Miriya had on the coffee table some sandwiches and drinks.

Miriya was already munching, so Lisa sat beside her on the couch, took a sandwich up and bit into it. Moments later, the two women were out the door and headed to the infirmary.

When they got to the OR doors, they found Max asleep in one of the chairs. Lisa looked to Miriya and motioned to the doors. Miriya nodded and sat down next to Max as she went inside to the OR area. She went to where she had found Rick, and when she looked in the window her spirits lifted a little. The breathing tube was gone; and she thought that here weren't as many machines in there with him as there used to be. There was a nurse in with him, and Lisa opened the intercom channel. "Nurse, could you tell Dr. Grant that I would like to see her?" The nurse nodded and went out of the room.

A minute later, Jean appeared at the next set of doors down the hall and said, "Follow me, Lisa." Lisa walked to the doors and followed Jean inside.

Jean looked at Lisa warily. "That looks like a new uniform…what did you have to eat?"

Jean had a knack for sounding just like Claudia, not just in what she said, but also in how she said it. "Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches…compliments of Miriya."

Jean smiled. "You can go in and see him. Inside the next room is the sterilizer. It looks like a resizing chamber; only it will kill any infection causing germs on you. It will feel funny, but it is absolutely essential that you do it whenever you go in there."

"I understand, Jean." Lisa gave Jean a little hug and whispered, "Thank you."

Jean stepped back and led Lisa to the door and said, "You're welcome."

Lisa walked into the next room and entered the chamber. '_Ouch… it does feel funny, like a million little ants. I'm coming, Rick.'_ The machine stopped and Lisa stepped out the other side into Rick's room. She took a step towards the bed, but couldn't go any further. '_Come on Lisa, even if you have to beg him.'_ And begging was fine with her, anything as long he came back to her.

She pulled a chair over to his bedside, sat down in it and looked at the heart monitor as it sounded it's continual beeping. She looked down at him. '_He looks so pale'_, she thought, and she took his right hand in hers. '_And he feels so cold.'_ Her heart pounded as hard as it ever had anytime in her life.

"Rick can you hear me? Jean says that you lost a lot of blood, and you need to be strong and fight to come back to us. They had to do some pretty major surgery, they had to take your spleen, but everything went as well as can be expected." She could feel the pain in her heart leak into her voice, but she was powerless to stop it.

As the tears once again traveled downward from her eyes, she spoke to him. "Rick, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry this happened. Please forgive me." She looked to his face, which had remarkably avoided any injury, and watched for a sign that he had heard her.

She saw none. With Miriya's words echoing in her mind, she thought, '_Okay Lisa…keep going. You've got to tell him.'_

Lisa brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it tenderly, then brought his hand to her chest and held it there.

"Rick, what you saw was…Rick it was an accident." She shook her head and whispered more to herself than to him, "No, that sounds so stupid." She cleared her throat and tried again. "It was…", she searched and searched for the right word, '_Mistake…no, unintentional…no'_, "Rick I don't know what it was. I didn't mean for it to happen, I didn't want it to happen…I never asked him…"

'_I'm babbling'_, she thought as she bit her bottom lip in frustration and contemplation. '_Just tell him what happened.'  
_

"I was thinking of how much I missed you. I locked myself in my office so that I could finish my work and get home to be with you." She looked at Rick and could imagine him smiling at the thought of her locking herself up.

"The damn communicator kept going off. First it was Jean, then it was the galley, then it was…" The realization hit her squarely in the chest and she suddenly felt very ill. "Oh my God…then you called, and I was so frustrated at being interrupted again that I snapped at you and cut the channel." She had to work very hard to keep from breaking down and screaming. "I was going to call you back, Rick, I swear, but I decided to get through those reports so I could make it up to you in person." Several tears escaped her effort to keep them from falling. "You have to believe me", she whispered.

She marshaled her strength and through a complete force of will regained control. "I even turned off the communicator on my desk after you called so that I could get through the reports I had left." She closed her eyes and laughed. "Do you believe that Rick? I actually turned it off."

She tightened her grip on his hand, opened her eyes and continued. "I got through them and I started thinking about you, daydreaming about you really. I called the Sit. Room to see if you were going to be heading home soon…"

This was the first chance she had actually had to go over the events of the day, so again realization sprouted as she talked. "…But you were gone. You were gone out in the Alpha…of course." She shook her head slowly, marveling at the morbid sense of fate. She swallowed the lump that had appeared in her throat and said quietly, "That's when Stevens came in to give me his report on…", she still couldn't remember what his report was about, "…I can't remember." She rubbed his hand against her cheek, closed her eyes and continued. "I was so tired, Rick, and I actually dozed off sitting up on the couch with a report in my hand."

"I only dozed for a second, and when I did I dreamed of you. I kept seeing those blue eyes that always make me feel so safe and happy, and then I dropped that report. I woke up and reached for it, but so did he and his hand landed on mine."

She opened her eyes and put his hand against her chest again. "When I looked at him, Rick, it was your eyes that I saw, and when I felt his hand it was your hand I felt."

Lisa took a deep breath to calm herself as she remembered. "When he kissed me, I thought it was you. I knew that something didn't feel right, but I assumed that it was because it had been so long since we had kissed and been together like that."

She brought his hand to her lips again, and after kissing it she left it there so that when she spoke her lips brushed against his hand. "I…when I felt his arms it felt so wrong, and I stopped the kiss and looked at him. I was horrified, Rick. I…I jumped up, managed to get to my desk and did up my uniform. I was so embarrassed for falling asleep in the first place, and flabbergasted by what had happened, by what I had done…I apologized…I just wanted him to leave."

She took a deep shaky breath and wiped the tears from her face and eyes. '_I must sound like a raving loon'_, it occurred to her. '_I don't know if I would believe this story if someone told it to me.'_

She put their combined hands on the bed next to him and she leaned over to caress his cheek. "I went home and after I pulled myself together, I called the Sit. Room, but you had asked not to be disturbed." She closed her eyes and bowed her head. "You knew. I waited and was going to call your office…but I was so damned tired. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until almost 7."

She raised her eyes to look at him again. "When I read your note, I ran to flight control to talk to you." Lisa squeezed Rick's hand and gently laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Rick. Please believe me…please come back to me. Miriya says that the Zentraedi believe that wounded warriors can hear people who talk to them. Please hear me, Rick…I don't know how to live without you."

She sniffed and said quietly, "I recognized your flight path." She closed her eyes and smiled as the memories of her second honeymoon flooded her mind. "You were going to Planetia Colony."

Lisa raised her head up and looked at him for any signs of…life. '_He still looks so pale'_, she thought sadly. She stood up without letting go of his hand. "Rick, I have never begged you to do anything in my life…but I'm begging you now. Don't leave, Rick. Please."

She reached down and gave his lips a gentle kiss, and leaned back to look at him.

'_Did his jaw just tense?'_ Her heart began to pound again, this time in hope and anticipation.

She reached down and gave him another tender kiss, for a little longer this time. She moved back and searched his face for any signs of awareness. Disappointment began to creep into her soul when his mouth opened…not much, but enough to notice.

Tears gathered in her eyes again as one more time she leaned down and kissed her husband. As their lips touched, she repeated in her mind, _'Please…please…please…'_


	4. Chapter 4

His eyes were closed but he still heard everything that was going on. He could here the frantic calls of his best friend Max over the communication channel, as well as the calmer but equally concerned calls of Miriya. He could tell she was frustrated at being so close to him yet unable to do anything to help him. He couldn't speak, even though he tried with everything he could muster, and as he felt the lurch as his Alpha hit the hangar floor, his mind shut down completely.

Rick was sleeping peacefully, that is until he heard someone yelling, very loudly. He couldn't pick out what the voice was saying, but he recognized the voice as Max's.

'_I don't think I've ever heard him be so serious'_, he thought amusedly.

Rick concentrated and the first thing he realized was his helmet was gone, followed quickly by the fact that he thought his flight suit was very wet. '_How the hell did I get wet?'_ He also realized that he was being handled rather roughly, and he thought for a moment that he was drunk, had passed out somewhere and was being taken home. That thought was quickly dispelled when he felt a searing pain in his left side, and it all came back to him in a bright flash. He had taken a hit, a very palpable hit, as Shakespeare had put it. '_I was in space, how the hell did I get wet?'_, he asked himself again.

He gathered up all of his strength, opened his eyes and found himself looking up into the concerned eyes of Jean Grant. He realized he was on a stretcher, and as he felt the safety straps go around him, he looked for Lisa. She was standing off to one side, and she looked as though she was being supported by Max on one side and Miriya on the other. She looked so pale and worried. '_Lisa!'_, his heart screamed to get her attention. He heard Jean tell them to get ready to move, and with whatever strength that he had left, he grabbed Jean's arm and pulled her close so that he could tell her something. He wanted to talk to someone.

"Max…" His throat felt constricted, and he found it difficult to breath and talk. Jean looked at him and he repeated, "Max."

He watched as she looked over to them and say something, and a moment later his friend was by his side. Rick held up his hand, which Max took in his own, and as the stretcher started to move, Max went with it, not loosening his hold on Rick's hand. Rick noticed with surprisingly little concern that his hand was covered in crimson and Max didn't seem to mind. '_Of course…'_, he thought calmly, '_blood. That's how I got wet. I'm bleeding.'_ They went through the hangar bay doors and waited at the elevator to take them to G deck, where the operating rooms were located.

"Max…Lisa…look after…Lisa." He took a painful, deep breath, at least as deep as he could. "Not her fault…Max…don't let her blame…herself…Promise me… Don't let her…blame herself."

Max looked at him and said reassuringly, "Come on, Rick. Don't talk like that. You'll be fine."

Rick shook his head and squeezed Max's hand. "No…Max. Not this time. You tell Lisa…I love her…Promise me you…will look after her…and Roy."

Max looked at his friend and said, "Of course, Rick. They will never be alone. I'll take care of them."

Rick nodded. He could see that Max understood the gravity of his request. They had both seen enough death and injuries over the years to know that Rick's injuries were very severe. "Not her fault, Max…I was…too stubborn…Tell her."

He saw a tear roll down Max's cheek. "I will Rick. I promise."

The elevator doors opened and they moved inside. Rick felt the coldness creep into him, and he was finding it really hard to keep his eyes open. "Max…old friend." He squeezed Max's hand again, and he saw the concern in Max's eyes when he realized that Rick's grip was getting weaker. "I was Roy's little…brother…you are mine…Max." He took a sharp intake of breath as a wave of pain hit him, and he forced himself to finish his thought. "My little brother…take care…old friend…remember…promise…Lisa."

He closed his eyes and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get them to open up again. He heard the doors open and Jean yell for them to move, and as he felt the gurney start to move out of the elevator, Rick felt Max's hand release his.

'_I just need to sleep for a few minutes'_, he thought tiredly. '_Just relax…and think of Lisa.'_

And he did think of her. '_We've been through so much'_, he thought. He dreamed of the first time they kissed of their own accord moments after Minmei left them beside the burning hulk of the SDF-1; the first time they made love after days and days of needless analyzing about whether or not they were ready; when she told him she was pregnant, and the radiant look on her face as she held their son for the first time; when she kissed Stevens…

'_No!',_ he cried into the darkness. Rick felt like he was lying down on some sort of bed, but he felt awake. He got up, and when he tried to walk he felt like he was in fact walking. He looked up into the darkness as he heard a steady high pitched whine, but he couldn't see anything that could be causing it, and he was suddenly very, very cold. He looked down again and he found himself in front of a door, with a dull light above it illuminating the immediate area. '_What the hell?'_, he thought. '_Where did that come from?'_ The last thing he really remembered was talking to Max about Lisa and Roy, though flashes of other memories came to him. He reached down and cautiously took the door handle in his hand. He paused to look at his hand, and he realized it was no longer covered in blood. He looked himself over and found that he was totally uninjured and that he was in his regular uniform, not a flight suit. '_Weird!'_

He opened the door and stepped into a dimly lit room, and as he stepped away from the door it closed, trapping him inside. He was about to turn and try to open the door but something, a feeling, told him to stay…and wait.

He didn't have to wait long. A football field distance away, a door appeared and opened up. Just as he thought about making a run for the door, a tall, slender figure stepped through, and as the person started walking towards Rick, the room became bright, though Rick could see no light source of any kind. Rick shielded his eyes with his hand to give his eyes a few seconds to adjust, and by the time they did, the person who entered the room was almost to him. Rick watched the person get closer, and he could see that the person wore an old style, purple and black RDF uniform.

Rick's eyes opened wide in amazement as he noticed the mane of unruly blond hair, and finally the piercing blue eyes that were sparkling in mischief. '_It can't be…'_, he thought as he ran his hands over his head looking for any head injuries that may have escaped his attention earlier.

Roy Fokker looked at him and said jovially, "I've really missed you, Little Brother, but I was hoping I wouldn't see you for a long time yet." Roy looked at Rick with an amused expression, and when Rick didn't say anything for a minute Roy said, "After all these years, don't you have anything to say to me?"

Dumbfounded, Rick nodded his head and said, "You're looking pretty good for a dead guy." Roy looked shocked at first, but only for a moment and his face broke into a mile wide grin.

"That's the spirit!", Roy exclaimed. "No pun intended." He gave Rick a serious look and said, "You really put your foot in it this time, didn't you Little Brother?" He wagged his finger at Rick and shook his head back and forth. "If I taught you anything about combat flying it was not to get distracted in a fight. Shame on you."

Rick was embarrassed by that, but only for a moment. "Hey, I did all right. I got them all didn't I?" He looked off into the distance and said quietly, "Besides, what do it matter?"

A chair appeared out of nowhere, and Roy took it, turned it around and sat on it, so that his arms rested on the back of the chair. "What's the trouble, Rick?"

'_I'm sure he already knows what's going on…but what the hell.'_ He looked at Roy. He looked exactly the same as he had looked the last time Rick saw him alive back on the SDF-1, when he was in the hospital after being shot down by their own missiles. "What do you want to know? The ship is nearly in pieces, the fleet is unorganized, I don't get to see my son as often as I want to, oh what else…let me think for a second…I caught Lisa cheating on me with a younger guy from Engineering, I have way too much work to do…you know what, I think that's pretty much about it."

A knowing look came to Roy's face. "Do I have to ask which one of those is responsible for getting you in here?"

Rick didn't answer him. He just stood there looking around, and noticed for the first time that no matter which way he looked, all he saw was a bright white.

"Do you really think Lisa is cheating on you Rick?" It was a straightforward question, and for a second it caught Rick off guard.

He glanced at Roy and then looked at the floor. "I saw it with my own eyes, Roy."

"Saw what, Rick?"

Rick looked at his Big Brother. '_Never any beating around the bush with you, was there?'_ Rick took a deep breath blew it out. "I don't want to remember…it hurts too much."

"Come on, Rick. I've been out of the loop for years, at least fill me in on this."

Rick almost smiled…almost.

"We've been busy lately, and I missed her, so I took a Battloid up to her office window to surprise her…"

"Damned romantic…must have learned that from me", Roy commented.

Not missing a beat, Rick went on. "And when I looked in I saw her kiss a guy from Engineering…"

"Did she kiss him or did he kiss her?"

"Does it really matter, Roy? She didn't stop it, either way. Then she pulled him over onto her, and he started undoing her uniform."

Roy contemplated this for a second and asked, "Did they…ah …you know?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Roy…I couldn't take anymore and got the hell out of there as fast as the afterburners could take me."

Roy rubbed his chin in apparent deep thought, and then replaced his arms on the back of the chair. "What did she say when you asked her about it?", asked Fokker. Rick just stood there looking at the floor. "You did talk to her about this, didn't you Rick?" Again, Rick didn't answer. "You've grown up and come a long way, Little Brother, but you're still an idiot when it comes to women." As Rick turned to face him Roy added, "Or is it just when it comes to Lisa?"

"I saw it…", Rick began and Roy finished it with, "…with your own eyes, yes so you've said." He looked up at Rick and asked, "Come on, Rick, you know Lisa better than anyone. You know she isn't the type of person to do something like that. There's got to be more to it. She loves you, Rick…for some reason." After a sour look from Rick and a few moments of silence Roy asked, "Why didn't you talk to her?"

"Why would I want…", he said angrily, but his voice softened suddenly and he continued with, "I was so hurt, Roy, and pissed…but mostly hurt. You're right. I never thought Lisa would do something like that. But things have been kind of…I don't know…not bad, but not great between us lately, with all the work to be done and all that rot. We haven't been clicking like we used to. And when I saw her kissing him, I've never felt a pain like it before in my life. Ever. The last thing I wanted to do was see her and talk to her."

"Nice to see your stubborn streak is still intact after all these years." Roy looked thoughtful as he summarized. "So you saw something, made an assumption as to what had happened, made up your mind, refused to listen to her side of the story and let her explain, you left her alone, and on top of all that, nearly got yourself killed." He shook his head and said as he laughed, "You're in deep trouble, Rick. Don't you know by now that assumption is the mother of all foul-ups?"

Rick was having his own bout of thoughtfulness. "You said nearly got myself killed. You mean I'm not dead?"

Roy looked up and shook his head. "Not yet. The jury is still out on that matter. You took a lot of shrapnel in the lower abdomen and lost a ton of blood…you better hope they don't take the cleaning bill for the cockpit out of your salary. You're in the OR right now, and that high-pitched noise you heard a little while ago was the heart monitor go flat line on you. They brought you back and you're hanging on by the proverbial thread." Roy saw Rick's skepticism and explained. "As with many things in life, Little Brother, some things in death depend on what you do or don't do…how much you want to live…or die." He paused for a second. "Don't get me wrong, usually you don't have a choice. When you're number is called, that's it. But there are times…"

Rick interrupted him by saying, "So come on already. Let's go." Rick started walking towards the door that Roy had come in through, and when he turned his head to see if Roy was following him, the chair was empty and Roy was nowhere to be seen. Rick stopped walking, turned to look at Roy's door and got a fright when he looked into the chest of his Big Brother.

"How did you…?", Rick asked, only to have Roy interrupt. "It doesn't matter, Rick."

Roy sat down in the chair, which again appeared out of nowhere and looked at Rick. "Not quite yet, Little Brother. Let's take a few more moments to think this through. What about Max and Miriya, your friends and the soldiers and pilots that respect you so much? They all need you. They look to you, along with Lisa, for so much, just like you used to look to me, and like we all used to look to Gloval."

As Rick thought about what Roy had just said, Roy spoke again. "And what about Roy?" Fokker's chest swelled with pride when he spoke the boy's name. "You're being kind of cavalier about leaving him without his father aren't you?"

Rick hadn't really thought about his son, much to his chagrin. "Max will be there for him. And he loves his mother, and despite everything she loves him like nothing else. He'll be okay. He's tough like his Dad."

Roy grunted, shrugged his shoulders as he said, "I don't know, Rick…his Dad isn't acting so tough right now." Rick opened his mouth to respond, but Roy beat him to it. "He needs you, Rick. He needs his father. I know Max would look after him, and do a fine job, but Max isn't his father." Roy pointed his finger at Rick's chest and said forcefully, "You are."

Roy folded his arms across his chest. "Then of course, there's the woman you love and owe so much to."

"I don't owe her…", Rick began, but he knew it what he was going to say was a blatant lie, and the bemused look on Roy's face told him that he knew it too.

"She loves you, Little Brother, and if you gave her half a chance to explain what happened, you'd see that."

Rick was getting tired of the conversation. "If you know what happened, put me out of my misery and tell me already." As he finished speaking, the coldness he had been feeling since he heard that steady beep was replaced by the warmest feeling he had ever felt. It was as if someone flicked on a switch…or entered the room. '_I've felt this before'_, it occurred to him.

Roy shook his head. "No can do, Rick." A glint came to Roy's eye. "I think I'll let your wife tell you that. She's about to talk to you."

Rick was confused. "Talk to me? A minute ago I was flat lining on the operating table, and now she's going to talk to me?" Rick held his head as if he were holding it onto his shoulders and said, "My head hurts…I think."

Roy laughed. "Time is a funny thing where we are right now, Rick. A second here can be an hour out there, or an hour in here can be a second out there. Out there, many hours have passed since we started talking, in fact right now it's early the next morning." He fixed Rick with a sympathetic look and said, "As an update, you pulled through surgery and you're in a room hooked up to…well, you're hooked up to a few things, and Lisa just sat down by your side." He cocked his head to one side as if he was trying to hear something when he said, "If I know the old sourpuss, she's going to start any minute telling you what happened."

"She's not an old sourpuss, Roy." Roy looked at Rick, who was also trying to hear what Lisa was going to say and Roy smiled.

He felt his right hand tingle with a warm electricity, and he looked down and flexed the hand. The only time he ever felt that feeling was when Lisa held his hand, or he held hers. He brought his hand up to his heart and held it there as he listened.

They both waited attentively, and a few seconds later, '_Or is it minutes or hours'_, thought Rick, they heard her voice whispering in the distance. Rick concentrated hard, trying to hear what she was saying. He instinctively took a step towards where Lisa's voice was coming from, and then another and another until he could easily pick out what she was saying. He glanced next to him to see Roy, still sitting in the chair, also paying attention to what Lisa was saying._ 'How'd he move without getting up?'_

Finally, he could hear Lisa's sweet voice telling him what the doctors did and what Jean had said to her, and despite the pain and anger he was feeling, he smiled at hearing her voice. As she spoke though and he listened, his smile slowly faded. '_I've never heard her sound so afraid and in so much pain'_, he thought. He felt a pang of guilt, but pushed it aside to concentrate on what she was saying.

'Rick, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry this happened. Please forgive me.'

'_So much for her not blaming herself'_, he thought guiltily.

"She sounds heartbroken", Roy observed. Not wanting his Big Brother to see the guilt on his face or hear it in his voice, Rick ignored his comment. He felt a small jolt in his hand and flexed it. '_It didn't hurt'_, he mused, '_in fact it felt so nice.'_

He looked to Roy in askance. He smiled and said softly, "She kissed your hand, dummy."

Rick smiled, and he knew it wasn't because of Roy's banter, but because Lisa had kissed his hand.

'Rick, what you saw was…Rick it was an accident…No, that sounds so stupid.'

He heard her clear her throat and he could tell that she was struggling terribly to find the words. 'It was…Rick I don't know what it was. I didn't mean for it to happen, I didn't want it to happen…I never asked him…'

She stopped and Rick narrowed his eyes and said to Roy, "She's babbling. She gets like that when she doesn't know how to say something. If I know her at all she's probably biting her bottom lip right about now."

Roy cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Just tell him already! We don't have all year, you know!" He put his arms back on the back of the chair and grinned. "Actually, I do have all year…but you guys don't."

Rick shook his head in amazement and turned back towards Lisa's voice.

'I was thinking of how much I missed you. I locked myself in my office so that I could finish my work and get home to be with you.'

Rick closed his eyes and smiled. '_Forsythe said she threatened to court martial anyone who disturbed her.'_

'The damn communicator kept going off. First it was Jean, then it was the galley, then it was…Oh my God…then you called, and I was so frustrated at being interrupted again that I snapped at you and cut the channel.'

He felt the sting of her rudeness again, but it began to fade almost immediately as she said, 'I was going to call you back, Rick, I swear, but I decided to get through those reports so I could make it up to you in person… you have to believe me.'

He wasn't sure what to believe anymore, but he knew for sure by her tone of voice that she was feeling miserable. He looked at Roy, who was listening as intently as he was.

'I even turned off the communicator on my desk so that I could get through the reports I had after you called.' She laughed…a sad laugh he could tell. 'Do you believe that, Rick? I actually turned it off.'

The tingling in his hand intensified, and as she spoke again he brought the hand up, laid his chin upon it and closed his eyes. 'I got through them and I started thinking about you, daydreaming about you really. I called the Sit. Room to see if you were going to be going home soon but you were gone. You were gone out in the Alpha…of course."

'_She only just realized that'_, it came to him.

'That's when Stevens came in to give me his report on…I can't remember. I was so tired, Rick, and I actually dozed off sitting up on the couch with a report in my hand.'

Rick opened his eyes wide in shock and lowered his hand to his side. It certainly wasn't like her to do something like that. He looked to Roy, who whistled and shrugged his shoulders. They both looked up as she said, 'I only dozed for a second, and when I did I dreamed of you. I kept seeing those blue eyes that always make me feel so safe and happy, and then I dropped that report. I woke up and reached for it, but so did he and his hand landed on mine. When I looked at him, Rick, it was your eyes that I saw, and when I felt his hand it was your hand I felt.'

Rick shook his head slowly as she paused to take a deep breath. He was beginning to appreciate the toll this was taking on her, and he was feeling awful for what she was going through, for what he was putting her through.

'When he kissed me, I thought it was you. I knew that something didn't feel right, but I assumed that it was because it had been so long since we had kissed and been together like that.'

He felt another jolt in his hand. '_Another kiss'_, he automatically registered.

'I…when I felt his arms it felt so wrong, and I stopped the kiss and looked at him. I was horrified, Rick. I…I jumped up, managed to get to my desk and did up my uniform. I was so embarrassed for falling asleep in the first place, and flabbergasted by what had happened, by what I had done…I apologized…I just wanted him to leave.'

He could feel her touching his cheek and he reveled in the warmness of the feeling. 'I went home and after I pulled myself together, I called the Sit. Room, but you had asked not to be disturbed. You knew. I waited and was going to call your office…but I was so damned tired. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until almost 7. When I read your note, I ran to flight control to talk to you.'

Rick looked to Roy, who gave him an 'I told you so' look and said, "What are you thinking, Rick?"

As Roy stood up and moved to stand beside him, Rick struggled to control his thoughts and feelings. When Lisa started talking about it, he felt the anger and pain he had felt when he saw her with Stevens, but as she went on and he heard the sincerity in her voice, the anger melted away. He knew she was telling him the truth. Besides the fact that Lisa was one of the honorable people he had ever known, he could tell from years of practice and familiarity when she was telling him a lie.

And her voice…it was so sincere and so full of regret and sorrow.

He hated hearing her voice sound so sad.

'I'm sorry, Rick. Please believe me…please come back to me. Miriya says that the Zentraedi believe that wounded warriors can hear people who talk to them. Please hear me, Rick…I don't know how to live without you.'

She paused and Rick could hear a sniffle. '_She's crying…Lisa.'_

He could hear her voice take on a softer tone. 'I recognized your flight path. You were going to Planetia Colony.' The soft tone turned into a desperate on. 'Rick, I have never begged you to do anything in my life…but I'm begging you now. Don't leave, Rick. Please.'

Beside him, Roy cleared his throat, and Rick looked over to him. "Well, Rick. Do you believe her?"

Rick felt a solitary tear roll down his cheek. "I…I don't know what to believe."

Roy put his hand on Rick's shoulder and said, "It all boils down to trust, Little Brother."

Rick shot Roy an annoyed look and said, "I trust my senses, Roy."

"Are you saying you don't trust Lisa, Rick?" Roy sighed and raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "I think we both know better than that." He thought for a second and asked rhetorically, "How many times while we were aboard the SDF-1 did you trust your life to Lisa? How many times have you trusted your deepest secrets and feelings to her? Has she ever, before now, given you any reason at all to think she has betrayed that trust?" Roy patted Rick's shoulder, folded his arms and said, "Come on, Rick…"

"I didn't say I don't trust her, Roy", Rick said harshly. He looked into his friend's eyes and whispered, "But I just..."

"…Can't get past what you saw", Roy finished. Rick nodded his head.

Rick watched as Roy paused to figure out how to say what he wanted to say.

"Do you love her, Rick?"

Rick threw his arms up in frustration and exclaimed, "Of course I do, Roy! I can't remember what life was like before loving her…do you think I could turn that off with the flick of a switch?" He lowered his voice and added, "She means the world to me"

"Did she sound like she was trying to pull the wool over your eyes just now?"

Rick lowered his gaze to the floor and said softly, "No."

"In simpler language you believe her…so what's the problem?"

Rick felt an electrical charge hit his lips, and he brought his hand up to touch them. He staggered backwards at the love he felt through he shock.

Another shock to his lips rocked him again, and it shook him so deeply that it seemed to knock all the doubt from his mind. He smiled, took a deep breath and said with supreme confidence, "No problem." He shook his head in agonizing realization. "I've been a fool."

"Hunh", grunted Roy, "that's an understatement."

Rick turned to face Roy and couldn't help but smile at his comment. "I've really missed you, Big Brother." Rick held out his hand to Roy, and as they shook hands he said, "Thank you."

Roy said, "I've missed you too, Little Brother, and you can thank me by not coming back here for long time."

Rick laughed. "I'll try my best." He was about to say good-bye when he heard a familiar voice coming from the direction of the door that Roy had come in through.

'Roy, it's time…', the voice called.

Rick looked at Roy and smiled as he realized whose voice it was. '_Claudia.'_

"You go to Lisa, Rick." Roy pointed his thumb towards his door and said, "The old ball and chain is calling me."

As Roy started walking to his door, Rick called out, "What do I do?"

Roy stopped, turned around and said, "Go through the door and concentrate on her. You'll find your way. Now get out of here before I get mad at you and give you a kick in the seat of your pants like you deserve."

Rick gave Fokker a salute and turned to face his door. He walked up to it, and to his immense relief the handle turned when he tried it. He walked through the door into the darkness, closed his eyes and concentrated on the one thing that could bring him back to life right now: Lisa...


	5. Chapter 5

He stood there in the near total darkness, listening for her voice and feeling for her presence. He turned his head carefully from the left to the right, and when his lips throbbed with another electrical charge as he turned to the right, he kept his eyes closed and started to walk…and walk…and walk…and as he walked the darkness lifted.

Rick felt as though he were being lifted into the air, and after several seconds, '_Or is minutes or hours'_, he wondered again, he felt himself being lowered onto some kind of table or bed. '_This feels nice and…'_ His thought was interrupted by the sudden feeling of her lips against his, and the feeling overwhelmed him so much that he could feel a tear slip slowly down his cheek. He tried to open his eyes, and when he got them to open for a second he saw a flash of light, then another flash of light, and with one final effort he opened them totally and saw the prettiest sight he ever did see: his wife leaning over him, looking at him with what seemed to be all the love in the universe.

He watched her smile and then turn away. She was saying something, but he couldn't make it out, and she tried to let go of him, but he refused to release her hand. A moment later Jean Grant was looking at him. "Can you hear me, Rick?"

'_I can hear you, Jean.'_ He tried to speak, but it was very difficult. Jean came closer and he whispered…

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She nearly fainted in relief and happiness when she felt his lips respond to hers, though she dared not move away from him, lest he stop give up and go back into a slumber. A minute went by when she finally decided to stop and look at him. She was surprised to see a single tear rolling down his cheek, and happily amazed when she saw that he was trying to open his eyes.

She reached over, her hand trembling in anticipation, and pressed the call button to summon the nurse. She turned back to him and encouraged him to wake up. "Come on, Rick, you can do it…come on, Rick, please." She saw a flash of blue, then another flash of blue, and finally she saw his eyes clearly.

Lisa turned towards a noise at the door, and said excitedly as Jean rushed in, "Jean…he's awake!"

Jean moved over to his bed. Lisa let go of Rick's hand so that she could move out of the way, and her heart swelled when he wouldn't let go of her hand.

Jean looked at Rick. "Can you hear me, Rick?"

Lisa watched as he tried to speak, but it was barely a whisper. Jean leaned in closer and Lisa waited nervously. Nervousness turned to surprise when Jean's face broke out in a huge grin and she laughed. As Jean stood up Lisa asked, "What's so funny, Jean?"

Jean adopted a scornful expression and asked, "What were you doing in here with him?"

Lisa felt a rush of pink on her cheeks, and when Jean saw it she smiled. "He said, and I quote, 'Lisa…more…kisses.'"

Lisa looked to Rick, and noticed a glimmer in his eyes, which she saw were no longer the faded, hurt eyes she had seen when she talked to him on the hangar deck. They were almost their usual bright blue. The weight on her heart started to slowly lift.

"Well", said Jean in a commanding voice, "just don't stand there. Kiss him!"

Lisa laughed as Jean said, "I'll be back in a few minutes. Try not to send him into cardiac arrest."

Lisa was about to say something to her, but she couldn't tear herself from watching Rick. She moved closer to him and said, "Hey there. You scared me."

He tried to say something, but she couldn't hear it. She held back her hair and leaned in so that she could hear him.

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He was still woozy, and while he could tell that Lisa and Jean were talking and even laughing a little, he couldn't tell what they were saying. Then he noticed Jean leave and Lisa was beside him again. He watched her green eyes sparkle as she looked at him, and it gave him strength.

"Hey there", he heard her say. "You scared me."

His heart fluttered with guilt. He had put her through so much, all because he let his emotions get the better of him, because he wouldn't listen to her, because he made terrible, terrible assumptions and because he was so incredibly stubborn. '_You were right, Big Brother…being too stubborn will get you in a lot of trouble, or worse.'_

He tried to speak again, and when she leaned in he mustered all the strength he could and whispered, "Sorry."

She leaned down to kiss him, and he could taste the salty flavor of her tears on her lips. His guilt skyrocketed and he was on the verge of hating himself with a passion.

"Don't be. You came back, and that is all that matters."

Lisa closed her eyes and he waited for what he expected to be some sort of apology. "I'm so sorry, Rick." She opened her eyes and looked down as he inwardly smiled and thought, '_I'm good.'_

"I don't know how I could let that happen. I feel like…" He wanted her to stop blaming herself, apologizing and hurting, so he did the only thing he could…he gripped her hand as hard as he could. Much to his delight, it worked and when she looked at him, he gave her the best angry look he could.

He opened his mouth, and when she was close enough to hear his whisper he said, "Don't…no one's fault…love you." He watched her move away to look at him, and when he could see her emerald eyes shining he couldn't help but smile.

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"Sorry." His voice was still raspy, and just for a second she remembered how his voice sounded just after he had been hit.

She turned to look face him, leaned in and kissed him again. When she backed off, emotion filled her voice. "Don't be. You came back, and that is all that matters."

She closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Rick." She opened her eyes, looked at his hand in hers and continued, "I don't know how I could let that happen. I feel like…"

She stopped when he squeezed her hand, and when she looked at him his eyes were narrowed and he looked like he was trying to look mad.

She leaned in to listen to him. "Don't…no one's fault…love you."

She looked at him again, and to her great joy, he smiled.

It was then that Jean returned, bringing with her nurses, doctors and equipment.

Lisa stood up as Jean approached her. "We need to examine him and run some tests, Lisa. Why don't you go and rest, let everyone know the good news."

Lisa looked at Rick, leaned in and whispered, "I won't be long. I love you." She kissed his lips lightly and stood up. She released his hand and moved off to let the medical staff gain access to him. "Jean…"

Jean moved to stand beside her. "Is it good news, Jean…I mean is he out of the woods?"

Jean looked thoughtful and replied, "Out of the woods…no. But a few hours ago I would have only given him a twenty-five percent chance of coming out of this." She looked over to her colleagues, then back to Lisa. "Now I would give him and ninety percent chance. He's awake…he's cognizant. He loves you. That, along with time, is the best medicine he could have."

Lisa gave her friend a grateful hug and whispered, "Thank you, Jean."

Jean leaned back and said, "My pleasure. Now get out of here so we can torment your husband."

--------------------

A moment later Lisa stood up and was joined by Jean, who was telling Lisa that they needed to run some tests on him. He didn't relish the thought of being poked and prodded, but he would grin and bear it if it helped him to get well enough to take his wife in his arms like he so desperately wanted to.

Lisa came next to him and said when she moved in close, "I won't be long. I love you." He felt the familiar touch of her lips against his and then she as gone.

As the medical staff moved in, he noted with interest that Lisa had pulled Jean off to one side and started to talk to her. '_What are they talking about?'_, he wondered. A couple of moments later he watched Lisa move to the door, and when she turned to look at him she seemed unsure as to whether or not she should leave. To ease her mind, he gave her a wink.

His mind eased when she smiled, and a second later she was gone. He tuned out the nurses and doctors going over the machine readouts, their conversations and medical mumbo jumbo.

Instead, Rick focused on what really mattered, his friends and his family, and as he thought about them, he remembered Roy.

He closed his eyes, relaxed and thought, '_Thanks, Roy. Thank you so much.'_

--------------------

Lisa smiled, walked to the door and hesitated, and when she looked at Rick, he winked at her. She smiled again walked through the doors, out the corridor, and through the infirmary doors to the waiting area. Max was sitting in one of the chairs with his hands folded in front of him, and he hadn't noticed that she had come through the doors. Miriya was nowhere to be seen.

She regarded Max for a moment and then said, "Max."

She watched Max nearly fall over himself as he rushed to get up. She couldn't help but laugh a little, and when he finally straightened himself up he asked, "Rick?"

"He's awake, Max." She held out her arms as he walked towards her, and when he reached her she threw her arms around his neck. "He's awake. Jean and her people are going to examine him and run some tests."

Max picked her up and spun her around and exclaimed, "That's great, Lisa!" She laughed and he put her down. "That's wonderful."

They released each other and Lisa looked into Max's eyes. "Jean says he's not totally free and clear yet, but she's confident that he'll be okay." She sat down in the chair and said, "He kissed me, Max."

Max sat next to her. "That's just…it's great, Lisa. I was really worried."

Lisa looked straight ahead and whispered, "Me too, Max…me too."

She leaned back into the chair, and for the first time in what seemed to be forever and a day, relaxed.


	6. Chapter 6

"All right you clowns…look alive before Fraser comes in here and blows a gasket." Lieutenant Commander Isaac Stevens looked on with some amusement as the men and women in his section of Engineering scrambled from their relaxed poses to try to find something to make them look busy. Assistant Chief Engineer Fraser was famous, or is that infamous, among the Engineering crews for coming around right at the most inopportune times.

It was nearly 1800 hours and Stevens figured he'd find his power monitoring section in the state he had found it in…relaxed, to say the least. It was almost shift change for most of them so they were pretty much just coasting through the last few moments of the shift. They were laughing, talking and some of the Romeo types were telling lies about their latest conquests. He never could stand that, and shaking them up a little while they were doing it made him feel a little better about his own dismal love life.

Everyone had just found something to do when in through the door to the main Engineering section walked Commander Amanda Fraser.

Fraser was hardly a martinet when it came to discipline. She could let loose when she wanted to and she threw the best New Years parties on the ship. Still, while you were on duty, you were on duty and that was where her strictness came in.

Stevens admired her for constantly keeping that balancing act going. In fact, he really couldn't think of any reason whatsoever to think or say anything negative about her. Nor could anyone that he had spoken to about it.

"Good evening, Commander", she said cheerily as she walked up to him. "How are things going here today?"

"Good evening to you too, ma'am", he replied in a professional tone. "All systems are running within their normal parameters. No fluctuations in the power grid and the power distribution throughout the ship is constant, with no reports of power loss or power fades." He glanced to the wall next to the door where the duty roster board was kept. "Tomorrow morning we have a couple of teams doing some routine maintenance work on the power distribution couplings on a couple of the lower decks. Power will have to be shunted around those couplings to keep those decks up and running, but it shouldn't be a problem."

Fraser soaked in all the information and keenly watched the activities in the room. "Very well, Commander." She turned to leave but stopped after a pace. "Admiral Hunter requested a status report on the power generators."

"Yes, ma'am", said Stevens as he nodded his head. "I have a brief ready to give to her about the generators, including the results of our latest tests." He glanced at the clock on the wall and added, "I give her my report in a little while."

"Let me know tomorrow how she reacted to your report, Commander." She lowered her voice and said with a smile, "If she's going to be coming looking for me I'd like to know in advance so I can put on some body armor."

"Of course, ma'am", Stevens replied with his own smile.

"Good man. I'll see you in the morning. Good night, Commander."

"Have a good evening, ma'am", he said as she walked through the door.

As Fraser left so too did most of the shift, and they were replaced by the night watch. The basic skeleton crew for the evening shift was a crew of four.

The senior officer of the regular night watch, Lieutenant Cassie Patrick walked up to Stevens, gave him a quick salute and said, "Good evening, Commander."

Stevens put on his best stern face, saluted and replied curtly, "Lieutenant."

They stared at each other for nearly a minute. Neither of them blinked, each of them not wanting to give the other the satisfaction.

Finally Stevens' right eyes twitched, and despite his best effort and totally against his will, the eye closed.

Patrick didn't miss it either. Her face broke into a wide grin as she pointed and exclaimed merrily, "Hah! You blinked!" She folded her arms across her chest and announced to the room at large, "I win…yet again!"

Stevens' scowl lasted only a moment, to be replaced by a grin that easily matched Patrick's. "One of these days, little sister, I'm going to get you."

"In your dreams, Izzy", she responded with a happy voice.

The scowl returned to Stevens' face. He really hated it when she called him that. The nickname she gave him when she was very little stayed with her all these years, and she was usually decent enough to keep it between them. There were times however when she would drop it on him just about anywhere if she was in a mischievous enough mood.

"Cass!" He looked around to see if anyone had heard. All personnel were intent on their stations and seemed oblivious to their exchange. He stifled the sigh of relief that threatened to escape.

"Oh come on, Isaac, lighten up before you hurt yourself", said Cassie as she whirled around to go check on something. Her long blond hair brushed up against his chest as she spun, and despite his wishes to the contrary each little strand fell neatly back into place when inertia failed.

Stevens watched as his younger sister moved gracefully to the main computer terminal in the section. She was shorter than him, and it was the only thing that he could ever tease her about. In just about everything else, she was close to perfect. She had long blond hair, beaming brown eyes and a nearly perfect figure. She was the type of girl growing up that used to give him an ulcer. Their parents were in the REF and were away more often than not, so it fell him to beat away the would be suitors that kept coming around vying for her attention. There had been many. That all changed a year earlier when she finally settled down and married a pilot. He was a nice enough guy and he took care of Cassie, so Stevens liked him.

There was one area in which his sister was far from perfect, though he wouldn't dare bring it up as it usually made things worse. Cassie had an insatiable need to meddle in his life…particularly his love life. She had tried on numerous occasions to set him up with friends, acquaintances and strangers, and nearly all of the attempts ended in some type of disaster. Her banter as she came on shift was the type of thing he saw right before she tried such meddling, so he braced himself for the worst.

As though she were reading his mind, she whirled around and fixed her strong gaze upon him, and he felt as though he should be asking for a blindfold.

As she walked towards him she said, "You know there's a birthday party tonight for a friend of mine, and she asked if you would be able to stop by."

Stevens rolled his eyes and nearly groaned out loud. "Cass, you know better…"

"She asked me, Isaac", she pleaded as she held up her arms in surrender. "I swear. She asked if I could go and I told her I was on duty tonight. Then she got all nervous like and asked if you would be interested in going."

Stevens searched his younger sister for any of the usual signs of fibbing, but found none. _"She's serious"_, he realized. Before he could say anything, Cassie went on.

"You've met her a couple of times", she said as she checked the duty roster. "Lieutenant Marina Adamly from Communications."

His brow creased as he tried to place a face to the name. He always had been bad with names. After several seconds he still couldn't remember meeting her and was about to say as much, but once again his sister beat him to it.

"Come on, Izzy. She's a little taller than me; long brown hair and green eyes." Her mischievous smile widened as she said, "You told me after you met her that she had the nicest set of…"

"I remember", interrupted Stevens. He met her once at his sister's birthday party when he had consumed a little too many…beverages… and his sense of ethics was more than a little impaired. He remembered talking to her and genuinely liking her. They had talked and had a lot of fun, mostly at his sister's expense. And she really did have the nicest set of…

"Well are you going to go or not?", asked Cassie, letting a little annoyance slip into her voice.

"No can do, Cass." He looked to the clock and said, "I have to get ready and head to Admiral Hunter's office and give her the update on the generators, and then I plan on turning in early."

He began to walk away from his sister in the hopes that she would let it drop.

Right.

"Izzy you can't act like a hermit outside of work", she told him. "You have to get out and socialize, meet people, take some chances…come on!" She moved in front of him and placed her flattened hand against his chest to stop him from moving away from her. "Isaac…you're my brother and I love you very much, but you're a dope."

He laughed at her insult, but it only seemed to drive her on.

She moved closer to him and whispered, "Isaac, I'm worried about you. I…I just don't want you to be alone." She gently placed her right hand on his arm and said, "Izzy… please, for me, go to this party. Have some fun. Be with people. Go to this party and I will not bother you about this for at least a month."

Stevens sighed loudly as his sister put on her best sad face, including the big round puppy dog eyes. It was the face she came up with whenever she really wanted him to do something for her, and he had never in all their years been able to develop an immunity to it.

He looked at the clock and did the math. _"If I leave now and stop in there, stay for five minutes, then go give my report to Admiral Hunter, I could finish that book tonight before I turn in."_ He ran over the timing one more time and decided it was a worthy plan.

He sighed again, and as he pointed his index finger at her he said, "All right, Cass…but I'm going to hold you to your side of the bargain. Where's the party?"

She playfully tapped his finger away and said happily, "Deal. The party is in her quarters. K deck, section 12, room 114."

Stevens couldn't help but appreciate her concern, even if she was all but blackmailing him into going to this thing. He smiled and headed to his desk. He easily found the two copies of the report for Admiral Hunter on his meticulously organized desk.

He turned around to find his sister holding an orange in her hand. He shook his head as he passed her, marveling at her appetite.

"Have fun, Izzy", she said with more than a little pride.

Inspiration hit Stevens as he reached to close the door behind him. He took the door handle in his hand, looked at his sister and said playfully, "You know, you weren't even half this nosy before you got married", he shrugged his shoulders and added, "before you were getting…" He quickly slammed the door shut, just as the orange his sister threw at him impacted on the door.

As he headed to Marina's quarters, Isaac Stevens thought about something his sister had said. _"I just don't want you to be alone"_, he repeated to himself. He never really thought about it like that. He was happy with his life…more or less. Every once in a while he felt a pang of loneliness, but it was a seldom enough occurrence that it didn't affect his sanity.

"_The problem, Isaac"_, he announced to himself, _"is that you can't act like yourself when you're around women who you like."_ Indeed, the only women he could remember actually being able to be himself around were Fraser and his sister. _"Well"_, he realized with a sense of wonder, _"I did feel comfortable around Marina at Cassie's party. Maybe this isn't a bad idea after all."_

He turned the corner into section 12 of K deck and found the door of Lieutenant Marina Adamly. He stood there with the folders in his hand and hesitated. _"Come on, Izzy"_, he heard his sister's voice scream inside his head, _"do it!"_

He smiled and knocked on the door. A couple of moments later, the door opened and Stevens' breath caught in his chest somewhere south of his Adam's Apple. He coughed into his hand to clear the blockage and tried very hard to avoid the direct gaze of the gorgeous lady that stood only a couple of feet away.

When he finally had the nerve to look at her, he was relieved to find a concerned look on Marina's delicate face. He found himself smiling despite himself.

"Isaac. I'm so glad you could come." She opened the door wider and stepped aside. Her waist length, brown hair flowed magically around her and her green eyes seemed to shine at him. Most importantly, she sounded as though she was very happy to see him. "Come in."

He walked past her, noticing with interest that she smelled incredibly wonderful and stood just inside the door. He glanced around her quarters and noticed that it was very clean, tidy, organized and…empty!

He straightened his back as though an axe were about to fall onto his neck at any moment. There were no other people there, and the mixture of anger, fear and stupidity he felt at being set up by his sister made him tighten his already vice like grip on the folders he carried.

"Thanks for coming, Isaac."

Marina's voice almost startled him. He turned around and was surprised to see that she had moved incredibly close to him. What really surprised him though was the fact that when she took his arm and gently guided him towards the couch, he wasn't nervous. On the contrary, it felt very nice.

"You're a little early", she said as they moved to the couch, "but we should have some company pretty soon. Have a seat. Can I get you anything?"

He sat down and looked up into her eyes. "No thanks. I can't stay long, I have a report I have to give to Admiral Hunter."

He cursed on himself when her shoulders dropped and her beautiful smile turned upside down into a heart-breaking frown.

"I was really hoping you were going to stay", she said in a pitiful voice.

Stevens swallowed the lump in his throat. "I…well, I can stay for a little while…" He saw something sparkle in her eyes. _"Take some chances"_, he said to himself. "But…I could come back after I give the Admiral my report."

He held his breath and waited.

He was shocked, pleasantly shocked when her eyes brightened up and a smile returned to her face.

She sat down next to him and said quietly, almost shyly, "I would really like that."

He turned to face her, and when he did his hand fell onto hers…and he froze. For nearly a minute they stayed like that, his hand on hers looking into each other's eyes. He began to slip his hand off of hers, but she turned her hand so that she could hold his hand.

Before Stevens knew it he was leaning in to kiss her. As his face neared hers he was thrilled when she closed her eyes and slightly parted her lips in an invitation.

When their lips finally touched it felt as though he was kissing an angel. Slowly, tenderly they kissed. He wondered how her skin felt and he brought his left hand up to touch her delicate cheek. _"So soft"_, he thought, _"so right."_ It felt as though they were soul mates that had just found each other.

She began to move closer to him, and with his sister's plea for him to take a chance still ringing in his ears, he moved his hand from her face to the back of her neck. Gently, he gave a little pull on her neck letting her know that he wanted her to come closer, but giving her the option not to.

He was ecstatic when she moved towards him a little more. He let his hand leave her neck to go around her waist, and he felt her body tense at his touch. The kiss deepened…intensified until he was ready to throw all caution to the wind.

That was when someone knocked on the door.

Isaac and Marina both jumped up off the couch and tried to compose themselves. He looked around for his folders, which were on the couch. He picked them up and followed Marina to the door.

When she turned to look at him, he didn't see shame or regret in her eyes. He saw what he figured was in his own eyes…happiness.

She opened the door and let her visitors in.

As the trio of women made themselves comfortable inside, Stevens walked to the door. "I have to go and give my report to Admiral Hunter."

She nodded and asked hopefully, "Will you be back?"

He smiled and nodded, and when she reached over and gave him a small kiss on his cheek, his smile widened.

Marina smiled too and said, "I'll see you then."

When she closed the door Isaac Stevens began to walk to Admiral Hunter's office off the main bridge. As he walked, he thought about Marina Adamly and what had just happened. He remembered how soft her lips were; how her green eyes beamed at him; how her hair flowed around her; and how it felt so right when they kissed.

"_I owe you one, Cassie"_, he thought.

Finally he stood before the door of Admiral Hunter's office. He knocked and a second later heard her tell him to enter. He went inside, and after Lisa motioned for him to sit on the couch, he did. He took a moment as she talked to someone to size up the Admiral. _"She's a beautiful lady, smart and brave. Admiral Hunter is a lucky guy"_, he thought. Everyone knew the story of Rick and Lisa Hunter. It was romantic as hell and legendary. He looked to the floor and thought about Marina…

He heard Lisa close the communication channel, and when he looked up he saw, for an instant, Marina instead of Lisa Hunter. He blinked his eyes and shook his head as Lisa sat down beside him.

He handed her a report as she said, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Commander."

"_Poor thing. She sounds like she's ready to go to bed"_, he thought amusedly. To her he said, "No need, Admiral. You're a very busy woman. Shall I begin?"

As if to confirm his observation, Lisa stifled a yawn. He had to try hard to keep from laughing. He smiled sympathetically.

"Sorry, it's been a long day", she apologized. "By all means, go ahead."

He nodded and began to go over the highlights of his report. It was pretty dry stuff, even to engineering types like him, so he figured that Lisa must have been finding it downright boring. He glanced up a couple of times to look at her. Her eyes had all but glazed over. He wondered if he should ask her if she wanted him to give her the report later, but he kept going.

That is until she dropped her folder.

He did what any gentleman would do of course, and reached to pick it up for her. He froze for the second time in an hour as his hand landed on top of hers. He brought her hand up to rest on her lap and tried to let go, but her hand felt so…familiar?

"_Marina?"_, he asked himself. He looked up and saw bright green eyes and long brown hair, and before he knew it, his body was automatically doing what it had done a short time earlier: try to kiss her.

Everything blanked out in his mind except for his goal of kissing her, and to that end he covered her lips with his own. The built up desires and memories of what had happened to him earlier with Marina overrode all logic. A tiny sliver of his mind tried to fight it…but it was seriously out manned and outgunned.

His mind was a jumble of feelings as she pulled him over to her, and he responded by moving his hands gently over her sensuous form. She intensified the kiss, and finally he reached for the zipper of her uniform, even as that little sliver told him that not too long ago Marina wasn't wearing her uniform.

She broke their kiss and as his lips searched for hers, he heard her utter something that brought him back to reality with a resounding crash.

"Rick?"

His eyes flew open and looked into her eyes, the green eyes of…_"Admiral Hunter!"_, he screamed to himself. _"What the hell?"_

As he put his arm on the back of the couch to pull himself up, Lisa did one better and gave him a push. As she hastily got up off the couch and walked behind her desk, Stevens felt a sense of supreme mortification set in. He picked up the folder that was on the couch and stood up straight, bracing for the impact. _"What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?"_, he said to himself over and over and over again. He closed his eyes and wondered, _"I wonder if I can find a job on Tirol…"_

The thought was interrupted and his eyes opened wide at the sound of Admiral Lisa Hunter's zipper being rapidly pulled up. He swallowed hard and waited. _"She looks like the end of the world is coming"_, he thought when he noticed the flush of red in her cheeks and the darkness that invaded her eyes.

He could relate…he felt the same way.

"I'm sorry…Commander…I don't know what came over me", she said haltingly.

He watched as she brought her hand up to her head. "I was so tired and I was thinking about my husband…I just…"

She looked devastated. "I'm so sorry."

He could easily see that she was terribly shaken, and seeing his Admiral in such distress had an interesting effect on him…it made him want to be strong and calm for her. He wanted to help his Admiral.

He gathered all his strength and commanded his voice to be calm. For once it listened. "No need to apologize, Admiral. In fact, I should apologize to you. When you didn't remove your hand from mine I assumed that something was there, and I kissed you. I was, obviously, mistaken. I am terribly sorry, ma'am."

He looked on as Admiral Hunter struggled to deal with what had happened. He ordered his voice to stay calm and said, "Admiral, would it be okay with you if we forgot it happened? It was a mistake, brought on by your fatigue and my misunderstanding." He shook his head and added resolutely, "Nothing more."

He could see the smallest hint of an appreciative smile grace her lips as she said somewhat weakly, "I would really appreciate that, Commander."

She seemed to hesitate, as if she were trying to figure out what to say next. After a moment she managed, "If it's all the same to you, Commander, could we finish this…your briefing… some other time?"

He figured his desire to get out of there was only slightly less than her desire to get him out of there. He picked her folder up off the floor. When he spoke, he was relieved to hear that his voice was still listening to him. "Of course, Admiral."

He went to the door quickly, afraid that if he went any more slowly that he would never leave. He opened the door and turned to regard the woman who he respected and admired. Remorse dripped from his voice as he said, "I am truly sorry, ma'am."

Stevens stepped through the door, closed it and collapsed against the nearest bulkhead. He took several deep breaths and tried to calm down, but his trampled nerves were not a force that was easily deterred. When he felt that he could safely navigate the corridors of the ship, he moved towards his quarters.

Against his will, his mind kept remembering the horrified expression on the face of Lisa Hunter. _"Isaac"_, he said to himself sadly, _"you've really done it this time."_

Finally he made it to his quarters. He walked inside and sat down heavily on his couch. He brought his hands up to rub his eyes in a vain attempt to rid himself of the image that had been seared into his mind: the image of Lisa Hunter so…unsure and devastated.

He stayed there morbidly mulling over the events of his visit to Admiral Hunter's office for almost two hours. Then, out of nowhere, another image flashed into his mind. _"Marina"_, he thought happily. He had to see her, to be near her. It was her he thought he was kissing in Admiral Hunter's office. It was her he thought he was undressing in Admiral Hunter's office. He was surprised not to find that that thought was frightening…he thought he was undressing a woman he hardly knew.

He shot up off the couch and headed to K deck to see the woman who so invaded his thoughts. He arrived to find Marina saying good night to her last guest. He wasn't sure what to say or what to do. He just needed to see her. When she saw him, the smile she gave him exceeded the boundaries of her face to encompass her entire body. She simply looked radiant.

He walked up to her and hugged her as though it would be the last time. She hesitated only a moment before returning his hug with a passion. After a few moments, he loosened his hug enough to be able to look into her eyes, but he couldn't speak.

"Are you okay, Isaac?", she asked.

His heart flew skyward as he heard the genuine concern in her voice. He hugged her again and whispered, "I am now."

She pulled him inside and they made their way to her couch. He sat facing her again, and he brought his right hand up to gently caress her cheek.

He smiled and looked into her eyes. "Did you know that you have the nicest set of eyes that I have ever seen?"

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Stevens spent the night with Marina. They talked; they hugged; they kissed and they fell asleep holding each other. They woke up together and they ate together, and for the first time Isaac Stevens realized just how lonely he was. He didn't want to leave, but there was somewhere he had to go.

As he walked to his destination, he remembered the serene look on Marina's face. She looked so calm and so peaceful. It was the exact opposite of what he saw on Lisa Hunter's face when he left her office the night before.

Which is why he had to see her and explain why he did what he did. He arrived at the quarters of Admirals Rick and Lisa Hunter, looked down to his watch and said to himself, _"0747 hours. They should be almost ready to go."_

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A few moments later he knocked again. No response.

He was about to knock one more time when the red alert lights flashed to life and the call to battle stations was sounded. He rushed to Engineering and manned his station. He got the report and issued the appropriate orders, watching with pride as his people worked with professionalism.

He didn't have the details…he didn't really need them. The power generators needed to be maintained, monitored, regulated and, if necessary, repaired no matter who or what was coming.

A couple of hours passed before the ship was taken off alert status. After that came the after action reports and crew function analysis. It was mid afternoon before he got out of Engineering to get something to eat. He got into the elevator for the ride up to the Mess on C deck.

His mind was a jumble of images, conversations and feelings from the roller coaster ride that had been his life in the last twenty-four hours. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he only barely noticed that the elevator stopped at G deck, and never noticed at all who got on the elevator with him. He never noticed who got on the elevator until the person reached over and hit the emergency stop, causing the elevator to grind to a halt.

His mind shot back to the now and he heard himself say angrily, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

He reached to press the start button when he heard a voice call his name.

"Lieutenant Commander Isaac Stevens."

He turned and found himself looking into the blue eyes of General Max Sterling. He snapped to attention and said smartly, "Yes, sir." Even through the blue tinted glasses of the General, Stevens could see rage in his eyes.

Sterling took a step closer to him and Stevens thought he was going to faint. Sterling had the reputation of being the most patient person in the fleet, who seldom lost his temper and never lost control. He also had the reputation of being dangerous when necessary.

"I understand that something happened last night in Admiral Hunter's office", said the General without preamble.

"_Oh God"_, thought Stevens. "Yes, sir, but if I may explain, sir…"

"Yes Commander…please do", said Sterling as he folded his arms across his chest.

Stevens swallowed the watermelon-sized lump in his throat. "Sir. I…" His shoulders slumped and he tried again. He explained to General Sterling, of all people, how his sister asked him to go to Marina's part, what happened there, and then what happened in Lisa's office.

"It was…it was a mistake, sir. I never meant to do anything of the sort, sir. She was just exhausted, and I was…well, I was overcome with emotion from being with Marina…Lieutenant Adamly, sir." He looked into Sterling's eyes, ignoring the discomfort of telling Sterling such personal details, and said, "I even went to their quarters this morning to explain to them both what happened, but they were already gone." He straightened up and said forcefully, "I never meant to kiss Admiral Hunter, sir. But I accept full responsibility for it, and will accept any disciplinary action the Admiral feels is appropriate."

He watched as Sterling mulled over what he said. "Relax, Commander", said Sterling. A sad look came over his face as he said, "Admiral Hunter agrees with you that it was an honest mistake, and I'm pretty sure she would prefer to forget about it. I'm ordering you not to tell a soul about this. Absolutely no one." Sterling pointed his index finger menacingly at Stevens' chest "If I find out that you did, I will be very unhappy. Do you understand?"

Stevens nodded smartly and said, "Absolutely, sir." In fact it gave him a small measure of relief. He had been struggling with how to tell Marina what had happened, and even if he should tell her for that matter. Thankfully, Sterling took the decision out of his hands, and he was very happy for it. Stevens wasn't sure if he should ask, but he felt obligated. "Is the Admiral all right, sir?"

Sterling sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I don't know, Commander. She's very worried about Admiral Hunter."

Stevens didn't understand the comment so he said, "Sir? Worried about Admiral Hunter, sir?"

Max looked to him with surprise and asked, "You don't know what happened?"

When Stevens shook his head, Sterling explained about Rick Hunter's actions and injuries. He told Stevens how Rick Hunter, out in an Alpha for unspecified reasons, found three Invid carriers hiding in the system. Stevens was amazed to learn how Hunter fought off nine Enforcers, but not before getting hit by the last one. He was saddened to learn that Admiral Hunter was wounded so badly. _"As if she didn't feel bad enough for what I did last night"_, he thought.

Sterling finished his story, and as he reached over to start the elevator he said, "So she's understandably upset right now."

"Yes, sir." A moment later the elevator stopped at C deck, and as Stevens walked off he said to Sterling, "I hope the Admiral pulls through, sir. All my hopes…"

Sterling nodded and said, "Thank you, Commander."

The doors closed and Stevens walked towards the Mess. As he walked through the doors he thought, _"What was Admiral Hunter doing out in an Alpha anyway?"_

As he finished the thought he saw those beautiful eyes, and the question was lost like a snowflake in the wind.

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As promised, here's the story of Isaac Stevens. I wanted him to be a nice guy, not a male version of the evil villainess of "The Sit Room Incident". Wrong place, wrong time and victim of circumstance type of thing.

I hope you're all not too disappointed…:)

What do you guys think about doing the Chief next? He should have some interesting insights…don't you think?


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